Prophecy Beta
by MysticChaos
Summary: As the 2nd part of the Prophecy Trilogy starts, 3 teens are thrown into the CCS world. This adventure will be more dangerous, more difficult, and more pain than any of the the trio can take. Will they able to win this time? Will their prophecy come true?
1. Chapter 1 Problem

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.

Written by MysticChaos

Supported by candy-animelover600

Screamed at by Vegeta001

A/N: Let me warn you. This story is an OC story and they are the main characters (main as is the CCS cast won't be involved with their problems much). Also, this story is the second part to the Prophecy trilogy and I highly recommend you to read the first Prophecy story even if you don't know Yu-Gi-Oh that well. If you like this, then please continue. Sorry for the delay.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 1 – Problem

Something was wrong. Very, _very_ wrong…and the trio, Jennie, Jackie, and Erica knew it.

They had just saved the Yu-Gi-Oh world from the Shadow Realm as it leaked into the planet by far too much use of it. It threatened to destroy the trio's and the Yu-Gi-Oh world. So, by the help of Jackie's uncle Tien-Xiang and the other Yu-Gi-Oh cast members, they had defeated it and was able to go home back to their real dimension through a man-made portal…which brings us to where they are right now.

"We should be home by now!" Erica yelled, trying her best to hold on to her friends' hands.

Jennie saw images flashing past them, looking eerily familiar. "Maybe it's just taking longer than normal!"

Jackie gripped Erica's hand even tighter and added fearfully, "Do you feel that?"

They did. Something invisible was pressing against them as if forcing passage through their solid bodies.

"Don't let go!" Erica said, gritting her teeth.

However, the mysterious force broke through and soon the trio disappeared into a completely different world, into a whole new destination named…

Card Captor Sakura.

* * *

A/N2: I'm sorry, but the next chapter is much longer. Trust me; the chapters after this aren't all small as this. Besides, I'm updating two chapters here at the same time… 


	2. Chapter 2 Alone and Lost

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 2 – Alone and Lost

"Ow…ow…"

"My freakin'…AIR!"

"I need…air! For God's sakes, GET OFFA ME!"

"Now your foot's in my face!"

A girl with medium-length dark hair and amber-brown eyes fell out of the tangled group and looked around. They were in a big house with sun windows for a ceiling and big furniture furnishing the room. There were stairs behind her that led to more rooms and Erica could just see the kitchen to her left.

"JACKIE! If you don't get off me, I swear I'll hit you where the light never shines!"

Erica turned around and spotted Jennie scrambling onto the couch. Her waist-length braided, light-brown hair was a mess and her hazel eyes glared at the wall.

A small boy got up and cleaned his glasses. In a matter-of-fact tone, he snapped, "Well, excuse me for trying to run away from your God-awful foot's stench which was in my face!"

The two girls stared at the little boy. From the looks of it, it was obvious that Jennie and Erica were around sixteen, somewhat in eleventh grade. So was Jackie. However…

"OH MY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! Jackie, you're puny!" Jennie bluntly screamed.

The male turned around and gazed at his reflection on the T.V. screen. He still had the same spiky, black hair and eyes with glasses perched on his nose…except that he was six years younger now. At least that was what the ten year old shrimp in the television screen showed.

"Okay. Something must've happened at the portal." Jackie said calmly, trying to ignore the growing panic. "Something must've made me a kid again and—WILL YOU STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?"

Erica flinched. "But, Jackie, you have to go through puberty again!"

Silence.

The boy, who was usually the sanest of his two friends and a genius on hacking (like messing up the Pentagon for example), slumped over the T.V. and started to cry hysterically.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" was the only thing Jackie said.

Jennie turned her head to Erica who was backing away from the sobbing lad. "Obviously, we're still not home. At least, not the real one in the real world."

"Jackie must be right." Erica said, face serious. "Something wrong happened at the portal from the Yu-Gi-Oh world. Somehow, we're now at some other dimension."

Jennie got up from the sofa and looked around the house. "Yeah, but where?"

As if on cue, the television turned itself on. Startled, Jackie jumped away from the screen, scared out of his misery temporarily. The machine fizzed in its annoying way and after a few minutes, it started to settle out. A blurred, familiar face went through. The face cursed and hit whatever it was broadcasting from. The screen immediately cleared up.

"Hi, guys," a tired man waved through the television screen.

"Tien-Xiang!" the trio chorused with surprise.

The three teens jumped over and crowded around the T.V. Apparently, Tien-Xiang was still in the basement of his mansion in the Yu-Gi-Oh world where he had sent the trio through the portal before they ended up wherever they were. The uncle of Jackie seemed old and tired. His hair was messed up and even his smile looked half-asleep.

"What happened? Why're we here?" Erica demanded.

Jennie included, "And why is Jackie puny again?"

The hacker-boy glared icily at the female.

Tien-Xiang sighed. "I'm sorry, but something malfunctioned in the portal. Right after you went in, the machine that took you completely combusted. Thanks to Kaiba, I was able to send a signal to talk to you three for a little while."

"But why are we here?" the amber-eyed girl repeated.

Tien glanced at something to the side and looked back at the trio again. His face seemed panicked. "I don't have much time, so listen and don't interrupt. After you had disappeared, I fixed up your existence at the world you are in. Your new identity is that you three are siblings, come from Hawaii in a student transfer program, and live under government property so you don't have to worry about taxes and insurances. Apparently, from the sensors here, there is some disturbance at the world you're on. I don't know what it is so you have to figure it out yourselves. I also gave you powers so you can manage on your own. I can't go over to where you guys are since the portal's closed, therefore, I can't help you either.

"Now, about Jackie's height. Maybe we can put that to our advantage. I think this new disturbance is dangerous so you may need help. Jackie has to go to the elementary school to make alliances with Sakura and Li. You two girls have to deal with Toya, Yukito, and perhaps Yue. I'll try to make the portal again to get you three out. However, I think the chances are slim and you have to figure out how to get out yourselves."

The frenzied questions from the trio came pouring out as soon as Tien had stopped talking.

"What do you mean disturbance?"

"What powers?"

"WHERE ARE WE?"

The television started to fizz and Tien-Xiang tried to get the signal back. However, it was clear that it was futile.

Before Jackie's uncle disappeared from the teen's lives, he spoke out, "Be—care—You are in—Card—Sakura. Beware the—Web."

"How do we find our way back?" Jackie yelled frantically.

The screen blacked out, but Tien's voice was clearly heard through the speakers. "Remember: this is a world ruled by magic. Not technology."

Then his voice, too, was gone.

"Tien-Xiang?" Jennie drifted. She was still staring at the T.V. screen. "TIEN-XIANG!"

Erica put her hand on her friend's arm. She shook her head. The braided-hair girl fell onto the floor. Jennie couldn't believe it. They were on their own.

"Now what!" Jackie started angrily. "We have no help at all and we can't get out of this Godforsaken world!"

A wind started to pick up…inside the house.

"We don't even know where we are!" the boy shouted. The wind brushed some pictures off the walls, shattering them on the floor.

Jennie stood up and yelled at Jackie, "Don't say things like that! Tien-Xiang did help us! We're not alone!"

The plants from the flower pots grew onto the walls and hung on the ceiling, blocking out the dimming sun. Erica backed away from the rapidly growing greenery.

"I'm sick of this! I just wanted to go home! I don't want to fight some evil! I just want to go home!" the boy bellowed.

A new gust came that toppled the flower pots. Jennie bristled with the plants and she stepped forward. The greens crawled toward the hacker-boy.

Jennie replied, "Well, if we don't figure out anything right now, then we can never go home!"

"SHUT UP!" a new voice suddenly cried.

The room turned completely dark. The wind died and the plants withered. Total silence. Gradually, the sunlight came back and Jennie and Jackie saw Erica panting slightly. The furniture around them was toppled over by the strange wind and the dead leaves littered the room.

"Look." Erica said calmly. "Didn't you hear Tien before? He said Sakura and Li and Yue. He also said Card and Sakura. What does that tell you?"

"Card Captor Sakura…" Jennie mumbled. Jackie started to think, too.

The amber-eyed female continued, "And, apparently, we have to figure out what this 'disturbance' is. I'm guessing whatever is keeping us from home won't send us back unless we figure this out with our heads."

Jackie looked around the thrashed room. "And I'm guessing these are our powers."

"So first things first." Jennie sighed. "We have to become friends with the Card Captor cast."

Awkward silence.

"Why the hell did we end up in Card Captor Sakura? Why not in Hawaii where we supposedly came from?" Erica moaned, slapping her forehead.

Jackie closed his eyes. "And I have to face the little twerps…I never liked CCS, you know."

Jennie teased, "But you'll be with your own kind now, Jack."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?"

Slowly, one by one, the trio smiled at each other. Even if they had no idea what to do now and they had no guide, one thing was for sure: they weren't alone. As long as they were together, they could get through one more adventure again.

Maybe this quest wouldn't be so hard.

* * *

A/N: Well, hope you liked the first two chapters. The story will get better by the 3rd chapter so please review. If you don't, I won't update and I'll take off this story. Please come back next Monday for the next episode! 


	3. Chapter 3 School

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 3 – School

Sakura stood in awe as she saw Yukito shoot his target in the bullseye. It was obvious that he was the best in archery. Toya was next to Sakura, looking bored.

As the next row of archers came forward, Yukito came along to his friend and the Card Captor.

"Oh, Sakura! What're you doing here so early?" the rabbit asked, waving at Toya.

The girl replied boldly, "Because I wanted to see you shoot! You're really good, Yukito!"

"Nooo, you just came at the last minute, stuffing down your food as you usually do, little monster," Toya teased. When Yukito turned around to see if it was his turn again at archery, Sakura kicked her brother in the shins. With her rollerblades.

Suddenly, a crash was heard and a little boy shot out of nowhere, landing right in the target area face first. Before the archers could stop releasing their arrows, several flew toward the male. The boy continued to remain on the ground, the arrows luckily landing around the lad.

The coach yelled, "What're you doing there! You could've been killed!"

Then an amber-eyed girl fell out of some bushes on the other side of the school fence. She looked around frantically for something that seemed important to her. Another girl in a braid flew out of the bushes then, hitting Amber Eyes with her upraised hands.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" the braided one cried.

Awkward and a bit of freaked-out silence came.

Noticing that everyone had a confused expression, the screaming female slowly went back into the bushes, waving her arms around (which hit Amber Eyes again).

"You didn't see anything…" she whispered. The girl melted back into the greenery.

The amber-eyed lass shook her head to clear it and glared at the bush. She kicked it, snapping, "That's a bit hard to forget after a show like that! Moron…oh. Hi, Jackie! Woooo! You flew that far? You should join the circus!"

The boy in the target field groaned and sat up. He stood up and took a deep breath.

"Isn't that boy from your school?" Yukito asked Sakura, gazing curiously at Jackie's uniform.

Sakura replied, "Yes, but…I never saw him before."

Then everyone winced when the little boy bellowed, "I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR SORRY ASSES ONCE I GET OUT OF HERE! DAMMIT, I COULD'VE DIED SHOOTING OUT A BIKE LIKE THAT!"

"C-Colorful language…" Toya gaped.

The braided girl shot out of the bushes again and ran away, screaming, "EVERYBODY, RUUUUUUUN! HACKER-BOY'S GONNA KILL US ALL!"

With that, she disappeared into the high school. The amber-eyes female sighed and followed after her friend.

"Isn't that uniform…from our school? And why are they wearing the boy's one, though?" Yukito asked. He seemed a little startled from all the noise.

Everyone turned toward the cursing boy. However, he was far away, running to the elementary school.

Yup, everyone knew this was going to be one, long day.

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Jackie stuck his tongue out from the pain in his neck. Ever since that fall, his neck felt like it was twisted. WHOSE STUPID IDEA WAS IT TO SEE WHO COULD FLY THE FARTHEST AFTER CRASHING INTO A BIKE RAILING WITH BIKES? Oh, yeah…it was his.

The hacker-boy massaged his hurt throat and glanced at his math worksheet. He winced. It was so easy, it almost hurt. No…wait, that was just his neck. Jackie sighed.

It was easy enough telling the principal that he was the new transfer student. It was easy enough to tell the teacher that his neck was fine (not), and it was easy enough to sit in his chair half-sleeping through all the lectures that he had already learned. What was hard were the stares that the Card Captor cast gave him. It was only natural for Sakura to tell her two friends, Li and Tomoyo, about the incident in the morning. However, Li had sensed something unnatural about Jackie and told the others so. Now, the Chinese boy (Li) was glaring at the back of the hacker-boy's head and Sakura gave nervous glances from Li to Jackie. Tomoyo just minded her own business.

'I wonder if staring at a person for a long period of time is considered harassment,' Jackie thought unhappily. He twirled his pencil around and looked out the window, over the trees. A wind blew over and instead of its sweet coolness, something hit him hard in the eyes and ears.

Jackie, for a moment, saw complete darkness. Then he spotted a dim light that barely illuminated a book that a man was holding. Something creaked and the leaves rustled.

A deep voice chanted,

"Come to me, come to me,

The darkness shall roam free.

A web of space and grime,

Dead the Father Time.

A king of ice and knave

Shall put heroes in their graves.

Come and consume this sphere,

And it will become the endless nadir."

The creaking noise crashed and clattered like metal and instead of leaves rustling, something groaned and fell, a huge trunk rolling across the ground. A blue light formed a huge circle. Air screamed as it was sucked away. Finally, a huge, massive globe covered the blue circle's borders, cutting off the light. Complete darkness.

Jackie felt himself fall and careen into something cool and hard. Someone cried out in shock and metal scrapped across the floor. The hacker-boy opened his eyes and saw a world of blur. Someone handed him his glasses.

The boy put them on and looked around. Some of the kids were standing to see if Jackie was alright. Others were still in their seats, too shocked to move. The teacher was squatting next to Jackie.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" he asked.

Jackie smiled and shook his head. "Naw, it's okay. I just fell asleep from boredom and ended up falling off the chair."

The teacher's eye twitched and whacked the upside of the hacker-boy's head.

"Get back to work, everyone!" he yelled with irritation.

Smiling feebly, Jackie went back onto his seat and looked out the window again. Was it just him or did the wind just send him a message? The boy looked down at his desk and turned his head to the side. He saw Li looking at him with apprehension. Jackie simply grinned at the Chinese boy and went back to his work.

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Jennie twitched as she glared at her quiz paper. Someone, SOMEONE, in this room was talking. No one noticed it as they continued on their work and even the teacher didn't say anything. She was walking around like a vulture, too, making sure that no one was cheating on their pop quiz. Erica didn't hear it either as she was speeding away, her pen whizzing here and there. Jennie tried hard not to listen to the noise, but it was hard…especially when "they" were talking about her.

"Is that her? The one with the long braid?"

"Yes, it seems like it."

"Do you think she can hear us?"

"Well, after all she is one of the three to defeat that new annoyance."

"She seems too scrawny."

"What's her name?"

"I don't know."

"I'll ask her. HEY, HUMA—"

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP ALREADY?" Jennie shouted angrily, standing up.

The female turned around toward the sound and saw only plants on the window sill.

"Excuse me?" the teacher said indignantly. Apparently, she was talking before Jennie had so graciously interrupted.

"What're you doing?" Erica hissed.

"Um…" Jennie drifted. "You see…I had a fight with this friend, right, and I keep replaying that fight in my head. I couldn't concentrate so I finally…uh…screamed it out."

The teacher's mouth turned into a straight line. "And do you actually expect me to believe that?"

"Uh…"

Abruptly, Erica raised her hand. The teacher looked at her and the amber-eyed girl spoke. "Um…she's right. Yesterday, she had a fight over the phone and I heard it all. Jennie was like, 'SCREW YOU!' and her friend was like, 'SCREW _YOU_!' and then Jennie said, 'WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?' I should know. I'm her…sister. Yeah. Sister."

Everyone looked at the two girls as if they were crazy. The teacher coughed and told everyone to go back to work. Sighing, Jennie sat back down. Erica just smiled at the still staring students.

Jennie slapped her "sister" on the arm. "Will you stop doing that? People'll think you're crazy!"

Erica stuck her tongue out and whispered, "As if you didn't look crazy enough at the school yard!"

The braided-hair girl rolled her eyes and looked over to the plants on the window.

Even though Jennie thought she was half-hallucinating when she had heard the plants talk, Jennie still whispered out, "You speak one word and I'll throw you into the Home Ec room's stove."

That seemed to work because the plants didn't say another word after that. Toya, however, already had his suspicions.

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A/N: Bwah. Now it gets interesting…Is Jennie going crazy? Is Jackie starting to go into shock? Or did he hit his head too hard in the archery grounds? WHO KNOOOOWS!

Anyway, enough of my melodramatics. HERE'S TO THE REVIEWERS!

Isis the Spinx, DarkHand27, ElementalDemoness23, Valinor's Twilight, Hi, Krystal Fire680, Meow-Sama, and mushroom-sama.

SEE YA NEXT MONDAY!


	4. Chapter 4 Afterschool

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 4 – Afterschool

After school (meaning that the trio somehow managed through the day with all of the Card Captor cast keeping an eye on them), Jackie, Jennie, and Erica met at the front of the two schools to talk on what they were going to do for the day.

"Well, I have to get a job since we're still missing school supplies and we need to save the money that we already have for necessities," Jennie said, taking her bicycle out of its rack.

"Which is _a lot_ of money," Erica pointed out. She looked at Jackie who seemed a bit dazed. "Jackie? You okay?"

The boy looked (up) at the two girls. "Erica and I will try to befriend the CCS cast. That's the least we can do while you work your butt off."

"Wow. Thanks." Jennie snorted sarcastically. "Well, I'm goin'. See ya at home, guys."

With that, the girl cycled off, leaving the two teens alone.

Erica turned to the little boy in front of her. Crossing her arms, she started, "So, how do you intend to make friends with the CCS cast? Also, why?"

"Because, one, we might need help with this disturbance. Two, is because Tien-Xiang said to. That has to count for something," Jackie muttered.

"What about the cast? How're we going to make friends with them? They're already suspicious of us."

"Then we just have to make them trust us."

Erica took out her bicycle as Sakura came by with Li and Tomoyo. "Jack, that's easier said than done."

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Jennie stared at the manager. Then at the green apron in her hands. Just because she had stopped at the flower shop and said that the sunflowers were pretty (yes, sunflowers), the manager practically jumped on her and gave her an available job as a florist.

"I don't like flowers. I don't even like plants. I _step_ on them on purpose for Pete's sakes!" Jennie objected. The weird boss was pushing her inside the shop and forcing her to wear the apron.

"Didn't you see?" he said hopping up and down. "The flowers! They all grew another inch! AND GOT BIGGER!"

Jennie looked at the sunflowers and saw that they were indeed taller and brighter.

"You have a gift!" the manager squealed.

"That's why it's called Miracle Grow," the braided-girl growled.

However, the man ignored her and pushed a water pot at Jennie. "Now get to work! Water all those plants and flowers! In return, I'll give you fifteen dollars an hour!"

Jennie hesitantly looked at the water pot in her hands. Oh, well. At least it was fifteen dollars per hour. It better be, anyway.

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Li didn't like this. Though Jackie and Erica were walking with the CCS cast and were very friendly, Li still didn't trust the two. Jackie's aura was constantly changing like the wind while Erica's was hidden, as if something was still sleeping inside her. However, unlike Jackie, whenever the Chinese boy came even four feet from Erica, he felt all floaty inside. From past experience, that usually meant something.

"Li!" Jackie called. "If you keep dawdling in the back we're gonna lose you!"

Syaoran glared at the boy. Another reason why he didn't like Jackie: he always teased him about his crush in Chinese! Why did Jackie have to be Chinese, too?

Li hurried up, but avoided Erica and ended up next to the hacker-boy. Quietly, Sakura's male friend hissed, not wanting to be heard by others, "I know what you and your sister is up to…and I won't fall for it."

Jackie simply smiled at Li. "Then that's a pity. We only wanted to be friends."

Syaoran grit his teeth. He _really_ didn't like this kid. Trying to call Sakura and Tomoyo so they could go home _without_ Erica and Jackie, he soon realized it was hopeless. Sakura was being all floaty around Erica. Then Jackie suddenly pushed Li into the girls and the Chinese boy bumped into the amber-eyed female.

Erica grinned at him and said in a happy voice, "Why won't you tell us about the time you played Aurora in the school play? I would very much like it to hear it from you."

Li blushed and barely heard Jackie's hysterical laughter. Darn it! Why was he feeling all floaty?

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"I hate you all," Jennie muttered as she drowned a poor rose with the water pot.

However, the plant just sucked it up rapidly and became bigger and bigger. That was not natural. Another thing was that all the plants turned brighter in color and faced Jennie instead of the sun. And yet…the braided-girl didn't notice at all.

"What're you doing here?"

Jennie jumped and turned around rapidly, using a nearby flower pot as a weapon. It was Toya, who lurched away from the girl when he saw what Jennie intended to use the pot for.

"I have a job here," Jennie said bluntly, throwing the pot away.

Sakura's brother raised an eyebrow as he put on his apron. "So do I."

Silence.

"OKAY! I'm definitely quitten'!" the female shouted, walking in the opposite direction.

Toya grabbed Jennie back by the back of the apron, snapping crossly, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Even though Jennie had gone through the Yu-Gi-Oh world and met all the characters, it was still freaky for her to see Toya alive and breathing. No way was she going to stay in the same place as him.

"Let…me…go!" the girl panted.

"No chance. The manager assigned me to work with you so you won't destroy anything."

Great. Now she was stuck with him.

"I hate you so much," Jennie accused, sniffing.

Toya dragged the braided-hair girl across the floor. "The feeling is mutual."

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As the sun began to set, the CCS cast had to separate with Erica and Jackie to get home.

"It was really nice to meet you," Tomoyo said politely, but honestly.

Sakura nodded energetically. "I hope we can talk more, Erica! You too, Jackie!"

Li just grunted. Nevertheless, Erica waved at him, saying, "I hope we'll see you tomorrow, too, Li."

Syaoran blushed and Jackie conveniently said one word in Chinese. Sakura's male friend glared at the hacker-boy with such venom, it made Sakura and Erica wince. Jackie just smiled in his mellow way.

Soon, the groups separated, going on splitting roads, promising that they would see each other again the next day.

"That was fun!" Erica said cheerfully. "We've made good progress, ya?"

Jackie replied, "For you, yeah. Kids just love you. Li…of course, he hates me."

Erica chuckled. "Hey, I hated you, too, when I first met you."

"How did I ever become your friend?" the hacker-boy said, rolling his eyes.

Not getting the sarcastic comment, the girl laughed, "We became friends because we black-mailed each other when we saw each other cheat in the spelling test in 5th grade!"

"Too much information and I was just being sardonic."

"Oh. Sorry!"

The two walked in happy silence for a little while. Then Jackie was just about to say something until something crashed into some garbage can behind them.

"What was that?" Erica inquired, startled.

"Must've been some stray cat—" Jackie started, but the crashing sound came again, this time it was closer…and sounded bigger.

Warily, Erica turned around and faced the road. "You sure it's a cat, Jackie?"

"Maybe it's a big cat?" the boy said hopefully.

Erica gave him an exasperated look.

The clinking became louder. The two teens began to back away. Then, as if coming right out from the shadows, emerged a huge black salamander with blue eyes. Slowly, it walked toward them, knocking over cans, sign posts, and even pushing away cars.

"Maybe right now is a good time to run away…?" Erica suggested.

As if in response, the salamander disappeared into another shadow and appeared behind them through a different shade. Suddenly it lashed out with its claws and its tail. Erica hopped over the tail and Jackie scrambled up a wall.

"What do you want?" the hacker-boy yelled. "Where did you come from?"

Of course, the black lizard didn't reply, but continued to attack the two.

Erica jumped up next to Jackie on the wall. "Do you think it came from that 'disturbance?'"

The little boy ducked as the salamander swung its tail at his head, but it recoiled into the wall that they were standing on. Luckily, the two teens tumbled onto the ground safely. "I don't know! It must be, though! Where else can it come from?"

"But—" Erica avoided a speeding claw, "—why is it attacking us?"

Jackie grabbed onto the salamander's tail and its snout. The animal writhed, trying to get itself loose. "Maybe we're supposed to stop the disturbance! This enemy is trying to stop—ARUGH!"

The hacker-boy released his grip on the monster's nose and allowed himself to fall into tree branches. Apparently, the salamander was starting to emit strange green pus from its skin. It also started to salivate purple liquid. From the smell of it, it seemed poisonous.

"Ew…what the hell is that?" Erica said, covering her nose with her sleeve.

The lizard turned toward the amber-eyedgirl. The green goo touched the tree that Jackie was on. The acrid acid ate completely through the bark, sending the tree down.

"Jackie!" Erica yelled. She turned her attention back to the salamander. It was advancing toward her slowly, as if waiting for her to panic and do something stupid. Then the girl bumped into something. Turning around, she saw more garbage cans and shadows.

Shadows...

Crying out, Erica tried to back away from the silhouette, but the salamander came slithering out of it, its black tongue latching onto Erica's foot. The purple saliva seeped through her shoe. Before her leg could be melted off, the woman removed her foot from the shoe and fell back into the wall. The salamander gobbled up the slipper and advanced toward the cornered girl.

"Jackie!" Erica cried again. She had no powers. There was nothing around her to defend herself with. If she didn't do anything soon then…. "No, dammit! I won't die like THIS!"

Out of nowhere, all the shadows disappeared and the one that the lizard was coming out of closed. Now the monster was stuck in the concrete by the waist, trying to wrench itself out. Then Jackie flew out of the fallen tree, behind him a jet stream of air. As he flew toward the salamander, Jackie bonked the animal several times on the head with a broken bat. Soon, the hacker-boy retreated to where Erica was. The lizard hissed angrily, spitting toxins.

"Did you trap it like that? Woooo!" Jackie whistled.

Erica whacked Jackie with the broken baseball stick. "You made me so worried, God dammit! I almost died there, you know!"

However, Jackie ignored this and said excitedly, "Hey, hey! I learned a new trick! Look!"

The boy sent out a torrent of air from his hands that made him jump several feet into the air. Just before he landed, though, Erica grabbed him by the shirt and started to shake him.

"DID YOU LISTEN TO A WORD I JUST SAID? I ALMOST DIED!" she screamed.

Jackie covered his poor ears. "I know, I know! But I saved you, didn't I?"

"…."

The lizard roared and abruptly blasted out of the concrete. It started to steam, the green pus turning into gas. The two children began to cough.

"Dammit! Poison vapors!" Jackie choked.

Erica gasped, glaring, "Got any more bright ideas, Sherlock?"

"Nope, so it has been nice knowing you."

"WHAT! THAT'S IT?"

Just at that moment, the monster was about to jump onto the teens, eager to suffocate and to crush them.

However…

Jackie and Erica heard a large 'SQUELCH' as they were arguing with each other, oblivious to the danger. When they turned their heads to the strange sound, they saw a garbage truck on top of the squashed salamander. Slowly, the animal melted back into the shadows. The driver of the truck looked out.

"What was that! Did I run over something? I hope I didn't." the man exclaimed. He spotted the two staring kids with dirty clothes and messed up hair. "Hey! You're not in any trouble, are you?"

Jackie and Erica shook their heads quickly.

"Alright! Goodbye then!" The driver drove off.

The two people looked at nothing for a moment of stunned silence. The amber-eyed girl and hacker-boy exchanged looks. Suddenly, they burst out laughing, laughing at their unexpected fortune.

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Jennie took off her green apron as she checked her watch. Her shift was over for the day so she could leave. The girl walked over to the register and tipped over the counter so she could get her backpack and go home.

Then an annoyed voice asked, "You're not even going to say 'excuse me' or 'pardon me' or even a goodbye?"

The braided-haired girl jumped, almost falling over the counter. Jennie looked up at Toya and growled, "With you keep scaring me like that, you better just be happy that I'm not kicking you where the light never shines!"

Jennie hit the man on the shoulder with her school bag as she was throwing it over.

Toya stared icily at Jennie. "Do you have to be so brutal?"

The girl sneezed at the man's face and frolicked off to the door. Then she turned, waiting for Sakura's brother to clean his face off. When he did, he was surprised that the girl was still there.

"Goodbye, good sir," she taunted as she gave a mock bow. After that, Jennie ran out the door and down the sidewalk.

Toya smirked. Though he still thought Jennie needed to find some professional help, she was alright. She wasn't a complete saint, but he wasn't so suspicious of her anymore.

Meanwhile, Jennie was cheerfully walking down the road and stopped at every moment to look around. Night had already fallen and the Card Captor world shone in front of her eyes. Jennie passed by a small flower shop. Looking through the window, the flowers all turned toward her. Instantly, they started to grow like weeds. Shivering, Jennie ran off. The plants probably reacted to her power that Tien-Xiang gave. If that was the case, she didn't like her earthly powers.

As the braided-haired girl was running past, she saw Sakura talking with a small boy around the age of five. Before she even got near them, Jennie heard the Card Captor speak.

"Oh…" Sakura drifted. "You shouldn't be out this late! Do you know where your mom is? Did you come here alone?"

The boy nodded.

"So you did come alone. Well, I'm heading over to my brother's work, so do you want to come with me? Oh, you don't want to?"

As Jennie got closer to the two, she saw that the boy held a red ball that was as big as his head. His eyes…his eyes were blank. Jennie stopped. Something wasn't right. Jennie saw…no, felt that this boy was just an empty shell. No emotions…

"Should I wait here with you for your mom to come?" Sakura questioned kindly.

Jennie passed the two children, but as she brushed past the boy's shoulder, all of a sudden, Jennie felt that the kid was going to throw the ball into the street. Turning around, the female saw the red sphere bounce into the heavy traffic. Sakura went after it to retrieve the toy.

"Sakura!" the teen girl shouted, pushing away the emotionless child so she could get into the road. "Get out of there!"

The traffic light turned green and a car zoomed into view. With a lunge, Jennie grabbed hold of the little girl and rolled out of the way. A chaos of sounds ensued as the coming car screeched to a sudden brake. Vehicles attempted to stop and after some confusion of lights and dented metal, the cars on the road eventually halted.

Sakura and Jennie crashed into the side of the sidewalk, luckily stopping before they could end up in another major street. The braided-haired girl, who was now ragged and filthy, looked up and saw the small boy back away into the shadows until he finally disappeared. Then Jennie looked down at Sakura. She was safe.

Jennie got up and helped the little lady stand, too. She looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm so sorry! I could've gotten you…I'm so sorry!" Sakura sobbed.

The braided-hair girl smiled widely, patting the Card Captor's head. "Don't worry! I'm fine! Just got a scrape and some bruises!"

The little lass blinked and then sniffed.

"See! I'm a-okay!" Jennie chirped. Then the female teen looked around. She saw a crowd gathering. "Well, before we become the top news in this city, we better run! See you later, Kinomoto!"

With that, Jennie ran, leaving Sakura behind. Jennie stopped and turned back. She waved for the Card Captor to go on. Nodding, Sakura ran around the corner and disappeared. Sighing, Jennie, too, sprinted off towards home.

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A/N: YES! DONE! Whew…this was a long chapter, ya? Anyway, I enjoyed typing Jennie's parts since they were so entertaining. Toya and Jen makes a good match! (ducks as her mock-editor throws stuff at her to move on)

Ah…yeah. Here's to the reviewers!

Hi, Valinor's Twilight, egyptluvergurl, Mushroom-sama, ElementalDemoness23, DarkHand27, Krystal Fire680, Isis the Sphinx, Meow-Sama, Pink and Silver Tigress.

Wow…I already got 21 reviews…That's kinda cool…

…

(starts to shake in happiness) OMIGODOMIGOD! THAT'S SO EFFIN' AWESOME! I LOVE YOU ALL! WEEE!

(hugs you all in a bone-crushing embrace)

Well, see you next Monday! More craziness will come when Yue arrives! MWAHAHA!


	5. Chapter 5 Night

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 5 – Night

"Hi, guys." Jennie panted breathlessly as she came through the front door. "You wouldn't believe in what just happened to me today—hey…why's everyone so quiet?"

Jackie was feverishly typing away at his laptop and Erica seemed to be in deep thought as she blankly gazed at the ceiling. The air seemed thick and nervous. Jennie shivered and plumped down next to the amber-eyed female, which brought her out of her thoughts.

"Ewww…. What happened to you, Jen? You fell into some ditch?" Erica complained as she went into the kitchen to get a wet towel.

Jackie looked up at Jennie, though his hands were still typing away on the computer. "Or did you get into some fight?"

Irritably, the braided-hair girl said, "Neither! Jeez, what kind of friends are you?"

"So," Erica questioned, handing the towel to her female friend to clean her face, "what _did_ happen?"

Jennie's eyes grew serious. "As I was coming back from work—yes, I actually got a job today, Erica, so stop looking at me like that—I saw a boy, an emotionless boy that—"

"Does it have anything to do with shadows?" the hacker-boy interrupted. Both he and Erica were looking at the girl intently.

Jennie lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Soon, the three told their separate tails: Jackie talked about hearing a strange, chilling spell, Erica's was about the fight with the black salamander, and Jennie told about the strange child that disappeared into the darkness.

"That's just weird." Jennie stated. "Do you think this has anything to do with the disturbance that Tien-Xiang told us about?"

"It has to be. What else?" Erica said, pacing back and forth in the room.

Jackie shut off his laptop. "I tried searching on the matter, but nothing came up. No one knows about this problem…yet."

"What about the spell?" the braided female asked.

"No," the hacker shook his head, "Right after I had heard it, I had already forgotten it. It seemed like…like something made me forget on purpose.

The three teens turned quiet. Then Erica drifted, "Powers…. I just remembered something! Uh…um…remember, Jennie, when you suddenly yelled at the plants in class, telling them to shut up?

Excitedly, Jackie joined, "Yeah! Remember about the weird spell? I think I used some of my powers in there! Also in the fight with the lizard!"

"Now that you mention it, plants have been…reacting to me strangely. They just start growing. A lot. And I swear I hear plants talk. I'm not crazy," Jennie added.

The amber-eyed teen scratched her temples. "I think…your power is Earth, Jennie, and Jackie's Wind. It's only obvious to think so since these powers keep forming from them."

Jennie and Jackie nodded in agreement.

"What about yours, Erica?" Jennie wondered. "What's your element?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. My power didn't even show up yet, I think. I'm starting to think I don't even have one."

As the two girls talked, Jackie looked carefully at Erica. Though Jackie didn't say it out loud, what she said wasn't necessarily true. When he and she were going against the black salamander, just for a second Jackie saw the shadows recede when Erica was cornered. Could that mean something? If it did, then what?

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It was already late into the night and Jackie and the braided-girl was walking down the hall to their rooms. Erica had already gone to bed so the house was pretty quiet.

"Wow…s'been a long, _long_ day," Jennie sighed.

Jackie included, "And we have school tomorrow, too."

The two teens sighed again. They stopped at a porthole with a window ledge. Jackie sat on top of it and looked down. Jennie joined him and looked up at the sky. The town was still sparkling in the navy night, car horns and various rumbles dimly sounding from it. A full moon was out, slightly covered by wispy clouds. The view seemed so calm and quiet.

"Just when I thought we'd be home, we end up here," Jackie said, closing his eyes. The lights of this world hurt him too much.

Jennie turned her back to the window. "I wonder how's everyone doing at home. Do you think time stopped there or is it going on as usual?"

"We won't know until we get back to it."

"How long have we been here? I mean, away from home."

Jackie smirked ruefully. "A year. We've been gone for almost a year."

"Hey…Do you think, just maybe, that our world might be some other fantasy based on some other person's imagination?"

"Perhaps. We exist here so your theory might be true."

"A universe inside a universe," Jennie whispered, setting her head against the rim of the window.

Jackie said nothing to this, but it was okay. Silence was enough.

"Well, good night, Jackie-boy." the girl said. "I'm going to sleep."

However, before Jennie could walk off, Jackie grabbed onto her sleeve and pulled her back. He had a finger to his mouth and pointed at a lone, silvery white feather drifting down outside the casement. Jennie nodded at the boy and went off to get a length of rope. Jackie went into the study room next door and opened the window there. Slowly, he stuck his head out and saw a long, white-haired man-angel with silver-blue eyes sitting on the edge of the roof. Jackie saw Jennie with the rope at the window ledge he was at before, noiselessly pushing up the panes. The hacker-boy went back into the study room.

Suddenly, he shot out again, screaming, "HUGALABOOGALAH!"

Scared out of his mind, the silver-blue eyed angel fell off the roof and stared at Jackie with a startled expression as he regained his balance. Unfortunately, he lost it again as Jennie popped out of her window with her rope, and lassoed in the man. The hacker-boy heard the two crash inside the house. Quickly, he came out of the room he was in and watched Jennie tie the rope onto the metal radiator that was drilled onto the floor.

"You very well know that I can get out of these bonds instantly!" the angel cried angrily.

Brightly, Jennie replied, "I knew that, so that's why I tied you up with a thick steel chain that I found in the basement! And if you get out of that, I'll just knock you out with this sledge hammer!"

"You'll kill him…" Jackie said as the male-bird glared venomously at Jennie. She just smiled back, uncaring.

"What do you want?" the man yelled.

"The question is," Jackie answered back, "what do YOU know?"

The angel's tied wings flinched involuntarily.

"Look, we're not going to ask what you were doing out the window if you could answer us three questions," Jennie dealed. She held the sledgehammer beside her, almost threatening.

The male narrowed his eyes. "What makes you think I could, or will, answer the questions?"

Jackie pointed out, "One is that Jennie has her metal friend who's just _dying_ to meet you, and two is that you are Yue, the moon guardian of Sakura the Card Captor. We can blackmail you with that, you know."

The man's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"We have our sources," the two teens chorused blandly.

Now Yue seemed apprehensive. He didn't like how much these "other-worldly" humans knew so much.

"First question." Jackie started. "Is there something, anything, remotely evil gathering here?"

The white-haired angel was silent until he glanced at Jennie's hammer. "Yes, but I don't know if it is a threat yet."

Jackie and Jennie looked at each other.

"Does Erica have any magical abilities?" Jennie questioned.

"Do you mean that amber-eyed girl? No, she is an ordinary human," responded Yue.

"That can't be right…" the hacker-boy murmured.

Footsteps pattered toward them and everyone looked at the direction of the noise. They all saw Erica, who was yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"What can't be right?" the woman inquired sleepily.

Silence.

As Erica blinked a few times, she saw the blue-eyed angel looking at her with slight curiosity. Her eyes widened. "OHMIGOD! IS THAT AN ANGEL? DID I DIE? AM I IN HEAVEN? OHMIGOD, I AM IN HEAVEN, AREN'T I? JESUS, I DON'T WANNA DIEEEEE! "

Jennie reassured the tearing girl, "No…it's Yue. Tied up."

More silence.

"WHAT? Why is Yue here? AND THEY THE HELL DID YOU TIE HIM UP FOR?"

Everyone winced. Feebly, Jackie started, "But we needed a few questions answered and—"

"And he just happened to be here." Erica continued dryly. "Let him go. Now."

Jennie grumbled and complained, but went to work on the steel ropes. Erica was just talking quietly with Jackie. They didn't seem to be fighting…

"Why do I suddenly have a tight feeling in my chest?" the angel questioned in a quiet voice.

The braided girl looked at him and chuckled. "Either you have a little crush on Amber Eyes or just really scared. I got a feeling it's the latter…probably."

Yue didn't say anything. Then the metal wires came off and the angel stood up, flexing his wings. Jennie stood up also, put the metal rope over her shoulder, saluted lamely, and went down the hall. Now the bird man turned his attention to the other two.

Apparently, Jackie was nowhere to be seen and only Erica was left, who was staring back at him. She had a straight face on so Yue didn't know what she was going to do. Then the girl walked forward and smiled.

"It's finally nice to meet you!" Erica greeted happily as if she had never met the man a few seconds ago.

Yue blinked and stared. The woman…had completely changed!

The girl continued, "I'm sorry 'bout what happened, but I wouldn't blame my siblings for trapping you. After all, you did go on private property and eavesdrop on them. Normally, that's not a very nice thing to do."

The angel backed away slightly. He had a bad feeling about this…

"Huh?" Erica blinked. "Am I scaring you?"

Yue couldn't help it; he nodded.

The amber-eyed female laughed and walked past him, opening the window again. Turning around, she apologized, "I wouldn't be surprised that we're all scaring you. So…er…you can leave and come back a later time. Next time, though, knock first. My sister and brother might try not to attack you that way therefore almost killing you."

Then she smiled. This time, it seemed genuine. It looked tired and perhaps a bit sad.

"If you don't mind," the girl said softly, "don't tell anyone on what you heard tonight. I won't blame you if you did, but please, just keep it quiet a little longer."

As the woman looked at Yue, smiling, and the moon behind her, amber eyes glowing like gold, the tight feeling in his chest came back again. He felt very…floaty, too. Why in the world did he feel floaty for? Slowly he walked toward the window, his hand brushing against hers. It was warm.

"You know that I will come back," the man said, trying to sound threatening. Instead, his voice croaked.

Erica grinned in a happier face. "I know! Remember to knock on the window next time."

For a minute or two, Yue stared at the woman next to him. Finally, he jumped out the window and flew off, puzzled in why he had such strange feelings for a human, such curiosity.

As he drifted in the night sky and looked at the moon, Yue constantly saw the woman's face in his mind with a sad smile. Why was he even thinking about her? That never happened to him before. Maybe next time Yue might figure out why he wondered about Amber Eyes so.

But next time, he would remember to knock.

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A/N: Well, well…I'm finally done with this chapter. I have to admit…the last tidbit was a bit corny even for my standards. I didn't like it that much, but considering the fact that I can't start romances for my life (but, ironically, enjoy building up on it instead), I guess this is acceptable….

Anyway, to the reviewers!

Mushroom-sama, Isis the Sphinx, Valinor's Twilight, Elemental Demoness23, egyptluvergurl, Hi, DarkHand27, and Akari Ishtaru (who sent an e-mail telling me that she read my chapter; thanks for taking the time to tell me!).

Meheh…I guess I should apologize for the air crushing hug I gave you all last week…Instead...I'LL GIVE YOU MUFFINS!

(Sees a rat among the muffins and quickly throws it away over her shoulder)

Uh…You didn't see that.

REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6 Running Around

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 6 – Running Around

September slowly passed and a slightly chilly October arrived. For some reason, nothing unusual happened lately and all was pretty quiet. Still, that was good for the trio for different reasons: Jennie already had a job and homework (she was busy enough as it was), Erica somehow became extremely popular among the classmates (because of her "cute" naivety—Jennie called it stupidity) and spent her time being dragged off to clubs so she could join, and Jackie…well…he had a lot of free time so all he did was research on the disturbance, eat, and sleep.

Unfortunately, the Card Captor cast was still suspicious (except for Yukito; he's just clueless) of either one or two of the trio. Sakura and Tomoyo were fine with Erica, though Sakura was a bit careful around Jackie. Toya (sort of) trusted Jennie, but didn't like Erica or Jackie. Li was suspicious of all of them. Either way, the trio had some allies on their side just in case.

Also, Jackie and Erica found out that Jennie worked at a flour shop. This resulted in relentless teasing for several weeks and emotional shock.

…Although, there were some interesting things that happened once in awhile….

Several girls whined as the gym teacher told them they would play a two on two, boys against girls, tennis match. While the students complained over the arrangements, Jennie fired up with amazing intensity. Erica, who was next to her, simply looked around as other students backed away; it was obvious that the amber-eyed girl was used to this.

"Yes!" the braided-hair female hissed, throwing her fist up. "Another fantastic way to beat up some boys in some good ole tennis match! YOU'RE ALL GOING DOWN!"

Abruptly, Jennie grabbed Erica's arm and dragged her off toward Toya and Yukito. Pointing the racquet at Sakura's brother's face, she shouted grandly, "I challenge you to a tennis match, Toya Kinomoto! If you say no, I will whack you with this stick thing!"

Toya looked at Erica for an explanation while Yukito stared at a glaring Jennie. Erica simple smiled apologetically and shrugged.

"Okay…but don't expect me to be easy on you even if you are a girl," the man said.

Jennie smirked. "That's fine with me because I can still _so_ kick your butt."

"Yeah, just try."

A short time later, Yukito, Toya, Erica, and Jennie had taken their positions at a made arena. Yukito and Erica, however, glanced nervously at their friends. When the gym teacher blew the whistle, Yukito hit the ball.

Quickly, Jennie bent down and hit the tennis ball back toward Toya. He easily hit it back. Erica swerved and sent the sphere toward Toya again. He hit toward Jennie. She hit it back to him. He hit back to her. And her to him and him to her.

"Uh…guys…?" Erica drifted. Jennie and Toya didn't seem to hear. She looked at Yukito and he had the same bewildered expression that Erica had. What was going on?

"Hey, Toya," Jennie huffed.

He replied, "Yeah?"

"Wanna make a bet?"

"No, not really."

"Yeah, well, anyway, if you lose, no more calling me a shorty."

"Fine. If _you_ lose, you do all my part of the work at the flower shop."

Jennie hit the tennis ball really hard. It hit the ground in Toya's space. Smirking, she smiled, "Okay. Fine."

And thus, the game began.

---------------------------------------------------

While the battle of the sexes raged on in the high school, a similar, but not quite, war started in the elementary school. It was during classroom time when the students had to clean the class. As everyone chattered and cleaned, Jackie was mopping the floors with Li. Of course, it was fun enough to tease and bother the poor Li about Sakura and hinting about other things that he knew about them.

Suddenly, Syaoran stood up from scrubbing the floor and accused, "I know that you're not normal! Stop hinting about the cards! I know you know about them, so stop going around the lines and tell me right out who the heck you are!"

Jackie blinked and tugged at his ear. "That's really mean to say! I am normal for your information and what makes you think I know about old, stinking cards? You don't mean playing cards, do you?"

"Stop fooling around!" the Chinese boy hissed. "The cards didn't tell us anything about you and your sisters! It was as if you didn't exist! Who are you?"

Jackie scratched his ear and answered cryptically, "Of course, Sakura's cards didn't work."

Li waited for something more, but the hacker-boy just looked at him blankly. "What? Did I say something?"

Yelling in pure frustration, Sakura's friend chased after Jackie, who ran off with the mop trailing behind him. As if he did this on purpose, Li slipped on the slippery floor as did other people who went on the hacker's wet residue. Getting up, Li continued to run after Jackie.

"Uh…S-Syaoran? Why are you chasing Jackie? And why are you so wet?" Sakura questioned as the two boys ran past her.

While Li chased after the hacker-boy, the two made desks tumble to the floor sending bystanders running to the sides so they could avoid the two males. Eventually, they went to the end of the room opposite to each other across a small table. A camcorder was on it.

"After I catch you, I'm going to kick your butt and force you to tell me who you really are," Li snapped. His eyes looked like murder.

Jackie sneered, "If you can catch me first, you little twerp."

The Chinese boy chased the hacker-boy around the table a few times until he jumped over it. However, Li's weight on one side caused the table to topple which made the boy slide into Jackie and Jackie falling over with the table on top of both of them. The camcorder that was on the table shattered onto the floor. Jackie's glasses, which slipped off, skittered across the ground, scratching, and shattering both lenses.

Several students lifted off the table that was on the two boys who were slightly dazed at the moment. Tomoyo and Sakura came over with a teacher nearby to see if Li and Jackie were alright. Tomoyo, though, gasped at her broken camera. Jackie blinked dizzily and, squinting through his unfocused eyes, he saw Tomoyo staring at the broken video camera.

All he said was, "Oops."

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Yukito and Erica sat on the sidelines, watching Toya and Jennie battle it off with their tennis frenzy. Since they were both having so much fun (basically not even letting Yukito or Erica touch the tennis ball), the two decided they should just sit and watch.

For awhile, it was mostly silence watching the two teens tiring themselves out. Only when Erica and Yukito laughed at Jennie's and Toya's argument in the middle of the game did they start having a conversation. However, it started out to be very unusual and blunt.

"For some reason, some part of me wants to thank you for your kindness," Yukito commented breezily.

Erica blinked at the man and cocked her head. For the first time, the rabbit-man saw the girl cautious and a bit nervous.

"Oh, I mean, it's just a feeling, that's all." he smiled. "So…what do you think about everyone so far?"

The amber-eyed girl tilted her head back and forth as she looked at Toya and Jennie grabbing at each other's cheeks and stretching them. "Well, I think I know everyone pretty well. Not personally, though..."

"Do you want to get to know them better?"

"Um…I think we're already getting there."

Yukito smiled again. "Anyway, I want to say thank you from some mysterious part of me for no apparent reason that I can see."

Erica stared at Yukito for a few seconds. Then she gave a happy and knowing grin as she looked back at her warring friends with Yukito.

'You're welcome…Yue,' the girl cheerfully thought.

"Are…you…tired yet?" Jennie panted a few feet away, holding the tennis ball in her hand.

Toya shook his head tiredly. "No…are…you?"

"Not…at…all."

"You sure?"

"Y-yup."

Jennie was about to throw the ball again, until Toya began to laugh. Stopping, the braided-girl looked at Sakura's brother with a confused expression. Did he crack or something?

"Sorry," the male gasped, "it's just that I've never met a girl that's stubborn as you. You just won't quit, will you?"

Jennie hit the tennis ball back to Toya. Frowning, she replied, "Of course not. Who do you think I am?"

"Someone who's intent on making me impressed so I would like her," he said casually.

Then he hit the ball hard with the last of his energy. Realizing that it was too fast, Jennie ducked and gravely watched the sphere bounce and roll out of the boundary line. Spinning around, red as a strawberry, Jennie took out several balls and hit them all at the man. He had no time to dodge so they all hit him painfully.

"What the fudgecakes was that! That was freakin' cheap shot, you asshole! Saying that I like you? PAH! DIE, YOU CHEAT'N SELF-SERVING LOWLIFE!" Jennie yelled. With that, she shot her last tennis ball at Toya's head.

The orb ricocheted off the male's face. Blinking, Toya fell backwards. Silence.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" the braided-hair girl screamed as various people stared at her.

Yukito quickly ran over to Toya as Erica shook her head. She knew this would happen…

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"Opps," Jackie repeated again as he watched Tomoyo lift up the camera.

After a sound scolding from the teacher, Jackie and the rest of the class had gone back to cleaning up the classroom. Yet, there was still the problem of Tomoyo's camera which had been used for all sorts of projects that she had. Now that it was broken, well, she didn't feel very good.

"OPPS?" Li snapped. "Is that all you can say?"

Jackie gave a glare that seemed to shoot deadly rays. "What else can I say? Clearly, saying anything else won't help anyone."

The Chinese boy knew the hacker was right, but he couldn't help feeling angry at him.

"Are you okay, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, concerned.

The girl smiled sadly and assured, "Don't worry, Sakura. I can always get another one."

Before the Card Captor could say anything else, Jackie let out an annoyed sound before messing up his hair first. Then he bent forward and gently took the camcorder away from Tomoyo's hands. As everyone looked at Jackie analyzing the damage, the black-haired female noticed something strange. The boy looked different without his glasses. Rather…he looked handsome without them. Blushing, Tomoyo looked around and found his eyeglasses cracked a few feet away. Standing up to get them, Tomoyo shortly came back to hear the hacker-boy say his opinion.

"Well, I can fix this if you'll let me take it home. I could return it to you…three days from now," Jackie smiled. Tomoyo blushed even more.

Skeptical, Li asked, "You can actually fix that? They're in a hundred pieces!"

Smartly, the other boy replied, "They're actually thirty-two pieces, Syaoran, and, yes, I can fix it. So what about it, Tomoyo? Can I take it home?"

"Yes, I would like that, but what about your glasses? They're broken, too," the female said, holding out the bent frames and cracked lenses.

Jackie scratched his head and carelessly shrugged. "Eh, I can survive without them."

To show this, the boy walked back to his locker in the back of the room so he could put the camera in his backpack. However, before he even took three steps, he fell over a large pail that was in the middle of the path.

Li winced as Sakura shouted out, "Jackie, are you okay?"

Tomoyo looked down at the spectacles. Maybe she could thank him by fixing them. Then she flinched again as Jackie tripped over another bucket.

"I'm okay!" he said in a weak voice.

Yeah. It seemed like he definitely needed it.

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Jennie sighed as she watched Toya hold an ice pack over his forehead. Erica just looked at the man with a worried expression as Yukito smiled in his carefree way. It was after school as students from the high school emptied out, heading home or toward clubs.

"Look…I'm sorry." the braided-girl apologized. "I didn't mean to hit you on the head. Sort of."

Toya looked at the scowling girl in front of him. "Right. But I don't have care. You're doing all my work to make up for it."

Before Jennie could take back her apology and choke Sakura's brother, Erica cut in, "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, the swelling's not really going down."

"I fine." Toya assured. "Really."

Still, the girl looked nervous.

Then the kids from the elementary school came out and the CCS cast with Jackie walked past them. While Toya and Yukito waved goodbye so they could walk with the kids, Jackie seemed to say the same thing as he headed toward the two girls. Quickly, Erica grabbed the hacker-boy before he could trip on the sidewalk edge.

Alarmed, the amber-eyed female inquired, "Jackie, what happened to your glasses?"

"Yeah, you know you're blind without them," Jennie added.

Jackie glowered at the braided-hair lass. "I _know_ that. Apparently, Li and I had a little fight, broke Tomoyo's camera, broke my glasses, and now I'm walking blind and going to fix Tomoyo's machine."

"Wow. Your day was as wonderful as mine," Jennie snickered.

The hacker smiled evilly. "Yeah, I heard. You tripped up in tennis when Toya said you liked him."

Jennie instantly turned red. Erica turned toward her female friend. Suspiciously, she said, "Don't tell me you have a crush on Toya Kinomoto."

Suddenly, the braided-girl turned around and started to walk away rapidly. "WELL THEN, LET'S GO! LET'S RUN HOME! TODAY IS A FINE DAY SO LET'S WALK! LET'S GO HOME!"

"But home's that way," Erica commented, pointing in the opposite direction. Jackie started to shake in suppressed laughter.

Jennie turned around and ran the other way. As the girl began to be nothing but a speck in the distance, the two teens glanced at each other. Finally, they both burst out laughing. They couldn't help it. Sometimes best friends were just fun to tease.

-----------------------------------------------------

A/N: I have a few things to say before I continue on to my looooovely reviewers. I just wanted to say that I know Japanese new school years start around spring and not fall like the US schools. However, due to convenience for this story and that I'm too lazy to change the dates, the CCS schools will go according to the US school system.

The second thing is that some of you might be wondering when this story is taking place if Yukito doesn't know about Sakura's abilities and his "other" self. Apparently, this is taking place around the intermission between the first and second part of the CCS series. I put it in this time because I don't feel like dealing with Eriol and his cronies and Sakura's love problem…nor do I want to deal with Li's early leaving to China.

The third thing is that some of you might be confused as to why Yue is "telling" Erica thank you. To be blunt, he's saying thank you because in the previous chapter, Erica was kind enough to let Yue go and not try to kill him like Jennie and Jackie. Also for the fact that she was friendly with him despite what he did.

The fourth and final subject that I need to talk about is the new updating schedule. I will not update weekly anymore since school is coming and will continue with the monthly updating instead. Soo…you will not see another chapter until this month is done. Uh…Don't kill me.

Well, HERE'S TO REVIEWERS!

Meow-Sama, egyptluvergurl, Valinor's Twilight, Isis the Sphinx, Mushroom-sama, and DarkHand27. I also want to apologize to HeartBandit23 because she reviewed for chapter four and I completely forgot to add her in. I am soooo sorry…

Well, you know the drill! REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7 Love Is Hard

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: Erm…Happy Belated Turkey Day?

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 7 – Love Is Hard

Jennie wiped her brow and stretched. Today was work day and since no one was coming into the flower shop because of the sudden thunder storm, it was only natural to clean the greenhouse-like store. Besides, it was the boss's order whether the workers liked it or not.

Bending down, ready to pounce on the windows with detergent, a voice suddenly hissed at her, making Jennie fall on her face. Turning around angrily, she saw no one there. Then she looked at the plants.

Sometimes a voice came out of nowhere or a bunch voices started talking all at once even if no one was at the aisle. At first, Jennie was scared that maybe ghosts were at the flower shop. However, after some time, she realized that it was the plants talking, which only the braided-hair girl could hear. That still freaked her out. Luckily, running around and doing her work allowed her to get used to the talking greens and, sometimes, Jennie even joined their conversations.

Once or twice, the plants did come in handy. Few examples were that the plants sometimes warned when Toya was sneaking up on her, when there was pickpocket nearby, or when a regular customer to the store like "so-and-so" flower so Jennie could help the person.

But, right now, some plant was trying to speak to her. The cactus, a usually lazy and quiet thing, wriggled in its pot so it could get Jennie's attention. Making sure that no one was around, the female walked over to it.

"What's up?" the braided-haired lass greeted.

The cactus hopped up and down franticly, practically falling off the shelf. Jennie caught it quickly and set it back up.

It cried, "Oh, it's horrible, HORRIBLE!"

"What's horrible?"

"The darkness! The Web! My cousins, daughters, family got trapped inside and I can hear their cries! Oh, the pain and misery!"

Jennie's eyes widened. "What about the darkness? Tell me about it!"

"Everything gets sucked into it and broken down! Nothing can live in there and souls are trapped in that blasted dome, their spirits not being able to pass on! It's a horrible thing and it's getting bigger!"

"Do you know where it is?"

"Of course not! The focus is hard enough to find and the Web coming from it is sucking up everything!"

"How big is it?"

"It's too big to tell!"

Jennie thought furiously and recalled about Jackie's description of the disturbance. He swore it was summoned by a human…. "Was the thing brought into here by a human?"

The cactus froze. "Yes. It was by that blasted human who made all this happen! Jennie, beware of this man! He is the real enemy! What's worse is that you know him! He's—"

Abruptly, the talking object wilted, turning brown and starting to break down into small shards as if it had been shattered like ice. Startled at the sudden change, Jennie backed away. What made the plant suddenly die like that?

Then one of the daisies' voices cried out, "Watch out, Jennie!"

Quickly turning around, the woman hopped over a box of seeds, stumbled over some screaming rose bouquets, and finally started to fall backward down some steps. Closing her eyes and waiting for hard contact, something grabbed at her arms and mid-section. After that, she bumped into some other thing that kept her steady.

Slightly dizzy, Jennie saw ivy vines around her body, straining to stop the girl from falling. Then she looked up and saw that "some other thing" called Toya was staring at her, eyes wary and alert.

As the vines receded timidly, Toya set Jennie onto her feet. Almost growling, Sakura's brother demanded, "You better explain yourself well."

Jennie smiled weakly. What did she get herself into now?

* * *

"I'm going out!" Jackie yelled as he put on his shoes near the door.

Erica came out of the kitchen, holding a bowl and ladle. "What! In _this_ weather?"

The hacker-boy nodded. Hopping over to the closet, he got out his jacket and searched for an umbrella. "Yeah. I promised Tomoyo that I would give back her camera today."

"Yeah, but…." the amber-eyed girl said worriedly. "You don't even have glasses and can't walk away two feet without tripping so how do you expect to walk in this blinding, pouring rain?"

"One, I have contact lenses on which you and Jennie nagged me to use, two, I walked in rain, snow, and hail ever since I was eight, and three…urgh…I have an umbrella!" With that, Jackie wrenched out a blue umbrella from the closet and waved it around like a staff. He narrowly missed Erica's head.

Erica lightly smacked the boy on the shoulder for almost hitting her and said, "Okay, fine. You know where you're going, but what if a car slams into you? So much for Mr. Umbrella."

"Bah! Just leave me alone! It's not like I'm _really_ a ten year old."

Silence.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Jackie shouted as Erica gave him a skeptical stare. "Now, GOODBYE!"

Jackie slammed the door closed and opened his umbrella. Grumbling that he got no respect whatsoever, he started to go down the sidewalk, holding the completely fixed (and looking new) video camera under his arm.

After several minutes, Jackie looked around to see if he was in the right place. Tomoyo and he had suggested meeting at Penguin King Park by the lake. Checking at his watch, he guessed that he arrived a bit early. Turning around to watch the lake, Jackie started to hum to pass the time.

Jackie blinked. He swore he saw something flicker in the water. Wondering, he picked up a rock and threw it in. The rippled drifted away and nothing really happened. Then, gradually, something like black ink swirled along the whole lake until it completely filled it. The hacker started to back away. The black water rose up, whirled into three columns, and formed three maidens perched on top of a sable rock. They all had black skin, hair and clothes. The only thing different were their ice-blue eyes. Curiously, the women began to sing.

The hacker-boy started to feel sleepy and walked toward the lake edge. Then he shook his head furiously and covered his ears. Glaring at the maidens, who mentioned to come closer, he backed away a few yards quickly. The three women continued to sing, only louder this time.

"What the hell are Sirens doing here?" the boy muttered, stuffing his ears with tissue paper.

Trying to remember what his literary teacher taught him years ago, Jackie recalled the Sirens being beautiful singing women, who, with their voices, hypnotized sailors with boats on water to come to them, sending them to their doom against the sharp rocks at the bay. Another story about the Sirens was that if any sailor lived coming to them, the Sirens would end up eating the man. That definitely proved that they were monsters.

"I'M NOT LISTENING, I'M NOT LISTENING! NYAH, NYAH, MOO, MOO, HEEEEE!" the male bellowed over the music.

The Sirens stopped singing and looked extremely insulted. They started to grow sharp teeth and claws. Slowly, they melted into the back water they were settled on. Jackie took off the napkins from his ears and narrowed his eyes. Unexpectedly, they shot out of the water, sending out torrents of twisters filled with liquid. Quickly, Jackie shot himself backwards, front, and to the side with his wind power. After dodging all of the water rays, Jackie looked up at the maidens.

They had totally changed. Instead of mystical women, he saw fanged wolf-like creatures that snapped at him and floated high up in the air by the stream of a water tornado below them. They still remained black with ice-cold blue eyes.

"Who sent you?" Jackie yelled.

The middle monster hissed out, "We are sent by the Ice Master who has been summoned to this realm. He is the master of time!"

The teen boy all of a sudden remembered the spell he had heard at school…

…_A web of space and grime, dead the father time. A king of ice and knave…_

Jackie also remembered Tien-Xiang saying something about a web before he disappeared from the T.V. Putting one and one together, he got….

"He is the master of the Time Web!" the three werewolves chorused.

'Of course,' Jackie smirked as he placed the camcorder under a penguin slide.

Again the creatures sent out beams of water at the hacker-boy. However, Jackie easily ran past them and stopped as the dog-things aimed.

"But why attack my siblings and me?" Jackie asked.

The first monster growled, "Because you three have been prophesized to defeat the one who has been summoned."

The hacker-boy spun his hands to make a sphere that was filled with air. Kicking it like a soccer ball, the attack exploded in the middle creature's face, the aftershock knocking the other two werewolves off their water tornados. Jackie started to hop around, holding his painful foot. The air ball almost broke his ankle!

"How DARE you!" the once-women wolves screamed.

Putting his foot down, Jackie taunted, "Well, if you actually want to catch me, you'd better think up of a better attack than that."

One of them hissed and the other two roared. Then they jumped out of the water and chased Jackie on land. Cursing, the hacker-boy ran, running over the playground things as the black creatures simply toppled them.

As Jackie got out of the playground, he turned and almost crashed into a scared stiff Tomoyo. At this time, the boy had ditched his umbrella and now he was soaked and wet from the rain. He also had a bleeding scratch on his cheek for sliding down on one of the plastic rods in the playground. As Jackie stared back at the girl, the boy heard gun shots fly over him and at the monsters that was chasing him. Looking at where the shots came from, he saw three of Tomoyo's female bodyguards at the sides shooting at the werewolves, the bullet shells clinking on the wet ground.

"NO! STOP!" Jackie shouted, but the mistake was already done.

The beasts had their attention on the boy so far, but now they noticed the new humans in their domain. With a snarl, all three of them rushed at still firing bodyguards, temporarily forgetting their objective. Jackie, in order to stop the oncoming slaughter, dived between the two opposing forces and pushed them both away with a gust of wind. While the wolves were able to stay on their feet from the light push, the guards were not so lucky when they collided hard with the car they drove their employer's daughter in, slumping to the ground, unconscious.

'Well, at least that takes care of witnesses,' the small boy thought dismissively. Then he faced the fiends, saying darkly, "You touch anyone else and I swear I'll kill you."

Nevertheless, the wolves thought otherwise when they focused their attentions on the now defenseless Tomoyo, who was still standing there in shock. Again, Jackie was able to reach the girl first with a dash aided by air, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the side as one of the creatures crashed face first into the cement right next to them.

"Jackie…what…what are those?" Tomoyo whispered.

Instead of answering, however, Jackie replied, pulling the lass away from the fight, "You have to get out of here! You'll get kil—"

"Jackie, behind you!" Daidouji warned loudly.

The boy made some lance from thin air and it went through the creeping werewolf. Black blood splattered onto the boy as the monster let out a mournful cry. Then it disappeared into a puddle, the blood, too, melting away.

Enraged that their sister was dead, the other two shadow beings attacked Jackie at the same time. Most of the time, Jackie ran away with Tomoyo or blew the werewolves somewhere else with tornado power, and, as he did so, tried to explain what was happening.

"Tomoyo—" the boy started as he parried a wolf's swipe and wafted another one away, "—let's just saw that Sakura's cards-dammit, GO AWAY!-are this, plus some dramatic fighting movie with good-HYAH!-versus-TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY PIECE OF-evil. Or, if it's too much of a shock for you seeing me like this and fending off-MONSTERS!-creatures like these with my wind power, then pretend that this is all a-excuse me, Tomoyo-bad nightmare, okay?"

Then Jackie pushed Sakura's best friend to the ground as one of the werewolves jumped at her. Luckily, the hacker-boy had his wind lance ready. Soon, the second monster slid into the knife and went into a puddle.

The last wolf woman backed away, hissing. Jackie simply faced the being with a calm face, holding the lance steady. The Siren flinched as the rain beat down and thunder roared. She saw a brief image, some premonition. She saw, just for a second, his black hair turn light brown and sable eyes transform into a sharp sky-blue as rain slid down his glaring face. Baring her fangs, she jumped back as the lance flew at where she was and dived back into the lake. The inky blackness sucked in itself and vanished, leaving a clean body of water behind.

Letting out a deep breath that Jackie had been holding, he looked around to see if Tomoyo's and his umbrella was still around. Nope, nowhere. Turning around, he saw that the girl had fainted, holding onto his leg.

Smiling, the boy took off his coat (which was wet, but warm and dry inside), set it on to the top of Tomoyo's head so it could cover her from the rain, picked her up on his back, decided to leave the unconscious bodyguards where they were (they were under the shade of a tree, anyway, so they wouldn't get really wet), and walked to her house after getting the camera from under the slide. After all, that was the point of coming to King Penguin Park.

* * *

Erica popped the chicken into the stove and contently dropped her mittens onto the counter. After the chicken had finished cooking, she was done making dinner. Yes! But…why was she making dinner? Oh yeah. Jennie couldn't cook for her life and Jackie was just too lazy, not to mention being too short to reach the top of the stove. Speaking about dinner….

The female looked up at the clock and noticed it was an hour and a half since Jackie had left. Jennie was late from work, too. Worried if her best friends had gotten into trouble (or were the trouble), Erica brewed some cocoa and took it to the living room. Walking to the window, she watched the rain fall to calm her nerves.

"This is unusual," the amber-eyed lady said to herself. Thunderstorms never did last very long, but this storm had been raging for the whole day. Thank God, it was Sunday. Erica would've hated walking home from school right now.

Erica, closing her eyes, remembered how it all started. The power had shut down in her house and her mom yelled at her (man, would she liked to hear that yell one more time) to pull the switch back up in the basement. Going down, she had turned on the power, but as soon as she did so, Erica fell into a hole. With that, she ended up in a completely different world, another universe. Jennie, though, was simply walking home until she, too, got sucked into a hole. Jackie, after breaking Erica's cell phone, went the same way. It was so easy to get in, but it was now so hard to get out.

When the three had crashed into the Yu-Gi-Oh world, they were found by Tien-Xiang, Jackie's long lost uncle. The man was their guide, their dear friend, and helped them whenever they needed it. Now, the three were on their own with some of Tien's warnings before he disappeared. Where was he now? Was he still trapped in the Yu-Gi-Oh world? If not, then where? And what did he mean by "Remember: this is a world ruled by magic. Not technology?"

Also, what about home? The real world? If…no…_when_ they beat this strange disturbance and somehow found a portal, would Jennie, Jackie, and herself end up in another dimension? Did they have to do the same thing over and over again? Would they actually get home?

Erica leaned her against the cool window. So many questions and none answered. Would they ever be answered? The girl opened her eyes and a reflection of amber irises met her own.

They looked different. Slowly moving her head from the glass, she saw the mirror image of her face on the wet window. Her face was older and her hair was definitely longer. Her eyes seemed darker, too, as if all this adventuring had made it dim. Remembering Jackie and Jennie, they, too, had changed. Jennie was still her happy let's-kick-some-ass self. Although…she was more serious and cautious of her actions now. Some of her naïve spark had faded. She knew that this was no longer just an adventure. One mistake and it was their lives. Jackie, too, was different. He was outrageously sarcastic and unreasonable at times. Now he seemed quieter and wiser. Kinder was another change and he accepted things more easily than before. Herself, well, she didn't know, of course. All she knew was that ever since this journey had begun, their personalities and their perspectives began to differ. What hadn't changed, fortunately, was the loyalty and friendship that had from the beginning. Erica smiled. She was very happy about that.

Looking out the window again and was about to sip the warm cocoa, she spotted a wet feather on a bush that was being abused to death by the heavy falling rain drops. Opening the panes, Erica took the feather and observed it. It seemed like some kind of bird feather with the color of a silvery-white. The amber-eyes girl stuck her head out, ignoring the rain, and turned to look up.

Above her was a white-haired man sitting on the window perch from upstairs. His large wings covered him from the rain, but it still got through, showering him like pellets. The angel was so wet, his hair drooped down his face and his clothes were partially transparent. The male stared back at Erica, silver-blue eyes covered by his soaked hair.

It took awhile for Erica to recognize the angel, but when she did, all she said was, "YUE, YOU MORON!"

* * *

"How much did you see?" Jennie asked as she was on a chair with Toya glaring down at her, using his height to pressure her.

"Enough," the male replied.

The braided-hair girl winced and looked around for a way to escape while trying to think up of a believable answer. Unfortunately, Toya saw the woman's wandering eyes. Sitting down in front of her, Sakura's brother grabbed Jennie's hands so if she tried to run off, he could just pull her back. The braid girl scowled and decided to tell the truth…at least part of it.

"Okay. To be honest, I have special power. For some reason, I'm able to talk to plants, sense strong emotions, and greens react to me as if I was the sun itself plus drugs," Jennie said quickly.

Toya put his face close to the girl. "I know that already! For the past month, I've seen you do that. What I'm confused about is why did that cactus die? Are your siblings like you, too?"

Jennie bit her lip. As long as he didn't ask where she and the others came from, she guessed it was okay to answer the questions. "No, only Jackie has a power sort of like mine. Erica's not showing anything, so I guess she's normal."

"What about the cactus?"

"I was just getting to that. You see, the cactus was telling me about something it was scared about. But, just when it was about to tell me something important, something made it die. I think it was warning me about something…. Something that could that could be very dangerous."

"What is it?"

"That's the problem. We, Jackie, Erica, and me, have been trying to figure it out. We think it's something that could be a real threat."

Toya narrowed his eyes in a curious expression. "Who _are_ you?"

Suddenly, the manager of the shop popped out of nowhere, scaring the lives out of Sakura's brother and Jennie. By trying to turn their heads at the same time, the two bumped foreheads. Hard.

"Oh la, la, la!" the boss chuckled. "Is love blossoming in my shop? Ah! What a perfect scenario, too! Surrounded by flowers representing the symbol of love! And look! You two lovebirds are so close to together, holding hands! SUCH YOUNG LOVE!"

Jennie and Toya looked at each other. Then at their still holding hands. Quickly, the duo let go and turned their backs to each other, blushing bright red.

"Tch! You were just about to kiss, too!" the manager man sighed.

Turning around to the man, Jennie yelled, "What the hell are talking about, you perverted old fart! We weren't even thinking of kissing!"

"Ohhhh, but I see such passion in your hearts!"

"Why I outta—"

Before the rabid girl almost jumped onto the boss, Toya dragged her away, saying to the daydreaming man, "Our work here is done today. We're _both_ going home, right, Jennie?"

The braided-hair girl glared at Toya, but didn't pull away.

"Feh," she answered.

The two walked over to the main entrance and prepared to leave. As they put away their aprons and tried to find their coats, the two avoided looking at each other, still red in the face. There was a long, awkward silence. Finally, the two stood outside the shop, watching the rain fall.

'Dammit! Ever since that sick geezer said that gushy idea, I can't push it out of my head! Freakin'…WHY?' Jennie thought furiously.

Glancing over at Toya, she saw him looking at her. They both turned away, faces heating up again.

"Um…that was really stupid…what the boss said, you know," Jennie started, trying to begin a conversation.

Quietly, Toya said, "It didn't sound that…stupid…I…think."

Jennie turned her head around and up so fast, it cracked. "You didn't?"

"Unless you want to do…that."

"KISS? EW! NO! NEVER!"

"N-NO! I mean-what I mean was-ugh. Nevermind."

As the two became silent again, Jennie closed her eyes tightly, wondering what to do. Finally, she roughly took Toya's hand and held it tightly. The man looked at the woman, completely shocked. He watched Jennie frown at the rain and look down the road. She seemed determined to hide her burning face. Then Toya squeezed back.

Trying to be casual, Sakura's brother asked, "Are you walking home or something?"

Jennie nodded absent-mindedly as she stared at Toya's hand.

"Maybe I could take you back to your house on my motorcycle. It'll be quicker," the man suggested.

Suddenly shy, Jennie inquired, "You sure? That won't be any trouble right?"

"Now when did you ever care about that?" Toya said with mock surprise.

Though they were both bashful at the moment, at least they could be themselves while being embarrassed.

Jennie glared at the man. "What the hell's that supposed to mean! Don't think I could be considerate?"

"No, not really. Most of the time you abuse and ignore me."

"Oh, yeah? You mean like this?" Jennie kicked Toya in the shins just the way Sakura always did.

"Why you…."

Yelling in merriment, the braid girl avoided Toya's noogie and ran off into the rain. Both laughing, Toya chased after the girl. Soon, they both vanished into the droplets of water, changed, but unchanged. In love, but perhaps not so much yet.

* * *

Slowly, Tomoyo began to open her eyes. First, she heard soft patterings above her. Then she saw Jackie's head as he hummed a little tune. Startled, Tomoyo lifted her head off his back and looked around. They were in her neighborhood, close to her home…and was having a piggy back ride on the boy.

"So you're awake, eh?" Jackie chuckled.

"Uh, um, I can walk by myself now!" Tomoyo said, for the first time stumbling over her words.

The hacker-boy shook his head. "You just woke up and if you walk around like that, you'll end up tripping and hurting yourself. I'll carry you a little longer."

Tomoyo set her head back down, glad that Jackie couldn't see her blush. She felt something trickle down. It was rain.

"Ah! You're wet!" the little girl cried.

"No worries." Jackie laughed. "I'll dry myself off when I get home."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

A comfortable silence came after that.

Tomoyo tried to remember on what happened before she had fainted. She remembered her bodyguards driving her to the park, waiting for Jackie, and…the black-haired female gasped. She saw dog-like creatures and Jackie was fighting them off with a translucent stick that seemed to constantly change shape. After she saw Jackie run out of the playground, bleeding, she couldn't help but call out. What happened back there? Tomoyo knew that Jackie told her who he really was and what the monsters were. Also what his mission was. It was just so…confusing.

"Jackie?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you…a bad person or a good person?"

The hacker-boy thought. Then he said, "Putting it in those terms are too straight forward and unspecific. I'm not a superhero nor am I a supervillan. I'm just a human being trying to stop a strange force from doing something that's really bad."

"So you don't want to hurt anyone?"

"I don't think anyone with a right mind really does."

Tomoyo said softly, almost inaudibly, "You're really nice, Jackie. You're always trying to help people."

Jackie replied in a harsh laugh. "I'm hardly nice. Most of my friends hated me before we actually got to know each other. What does that tell you?"

"I still think you're nice."

"Yeah, well…thanks. You're a great person, too, Tomoyo."

"Thank you."

After some more steps and a turn, Jackie finally set Tomoyo onto her feet. They had arrived at her house. Gladly, he took back his coat and put it on. The black-haired girl patiently watched the hacker-boy take out something from the pocket of the jacket. Even if Tomoyo was getting wet again from the pouring rain, she couldn't help jumping in joy when Jackie took out her fixed video camera. However, the body was different, though the functions were the same.

"I did some additions here and there." Jackie said, watching Tomoyo look curiously at the camcorder. "For one, it's water-proof now. Try throwing it in the tub and it won't fizz. Tried it myself. Almost died from electrocution on the first test run. Anyway, it's shock-resistant, too, so if you drop it again, nothing'll break. Cool, huh?"

Tomoyo nodded excitedly. Then she dug inside her dress pocket and took out Jackie's fixed glasses. Shocked, the hacker-boy took it from Tomoyo's hand and saw that there were almost unnoticeable flashlights used as screws for the glasses.

"Um…I wanted to thank you for helping me so I sent these to an eyeglass shop and they fixed it right up. They also added in lenses that change into sunglasses in light and flashlights that you can turn on in the dark," the lass explained. She warily watched the boy's expression. He still seemed shocked.

Suddenly, Jackie hugged Tomoyo happily, twirling her around. "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU DON'T _KNOW_ HOW MUCH I NEEDED THESE GLASSES! THANK YOU!"

The lad set the girl down and cheerfully put on his glasses again. He laughed slightly when Tomoyo held onto his arms, still very dizzy.

"But…Jackie?" Tomoyo whispered.

"Yeah?" he said with a smile.

"I think you look much better without those glasses. A lot of girls would start to…um…like you."

Jackie blushed. "Yeah, hmm, I get that a lot."

Tomoyo turned around to buzz the gate doors. They immediately opened, leading up to a large mansion, windows filled with lights.

"Well, see you at school then," Jackie waved.

Tomoyo waved back, but as she walked forward, she ran and quickly kissed him on the cheek. Jackie froze. Face extremely red, Tomoyo bowed and sprinted back to the house. The gates closed and the boy behind them blinked and scratched his head. A teenager turned fifth grader who's crushed on by a girl from the same grade.

Walking back down from where he had come up, he muttered to himself, "A girl just kissed me who's an anime character and friends with Sakura. She's a fifth grader while I'm in eleventh grade…. This…might prove some difficulties…."

* * *

"I can't believe this, Yue." Erica sighed as she held a blow dryer on one hand and a towel on the other. She blow dried the angel's wings, while the towel dried his wet hair. Erica was on the sofa while Yue was sitting on the floor. "Why didn't you knock? Didn't I clearly say you can come visit INSIDE THE HOUSE anytime you wanted?"

Yue didn't reply as he leaned against Erica's knees and held the hot chocolate. Even if the amber-eyed woman practically dragged him in from the window, forced him to undress so she could put his wet clothes into the dryer (thus making him wear a huge towel around his body), threatened him to sit down so she could dry his hair and wings, and pushed hot cocoa into his hands, he felt quite comfortable.

"Jesus, I'll never clean all these feathers and your hair. They're even longer than woman's hair!" the female said, distressed. A bell rung in the kitchen and Erica set down the items in her hands. She disappeared into the kitchen in a hurried pace.

Yue looked over with the side of his eyes at the female, who was taking out a tray of chicken wings from the stove. The warm, cooked smell of them floated around the house, making anyone's mouth water. However, Yue wasn't interested in the scent of chicken, but watched Erica walk around instead.

The main reason why didn't come into the house was that it was just good enough for him to watch the amber-eyed girl walk around, doing her chores. Currently, though, Yue was starting to think that staying inside, close to the girl, was even better. Of course, he could dry himself instantly with magic, but Erica doing it was so much better for some odd reason.

Erica came back from the kitchen and sat back on the sofa, taking on the job of drying the angel once again.

Then Erica remembered what Yukito said to her in a flash: _"For some reason, some part of me wants to thank you for your kindness."_

The girl looked at the angel curiously. "Um…Yue? Do you think of me as a friend?"

Yue blinked. Was it that? Was the tight feelings he had in his chest and floaty feelings that? Friendship? No, it was stronger than simple companionship. He was sure. What was it called, though?

"Er…Yue?" the amber-eyed girl said.

Changing the subject, the man said quietly, still not drinking the hot chocolate, "You and your siblings are from a different world, am I right?"

The blow dryer clattered to the floor. The woman stared wondrously at the man as he turned to meet her gaze.

"I overheard your sister and brother talking about it when I first came here." the angel answered the silence as he watched Erica turn off the blow dryer. "It's surprising, but I will not tell anyone…unless you wish me to."

Erica sat next to the man on the floor and tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know whether to feel threatened or relieved."

"I would much like it if you were relieved."

Smiling, Amber Eyes chuckled, "Alright, alright. Better off being happy. Oh, speaking of being happy, you okay with being in…well…in only a towel around your body? You do know you're naked under there."

Yue turned slightly pink and shot an icy look at the girl. "Of course, I mind! It's not like I walk around bare all the time!"

"Ew! That would just…ew," Erica shivered with a horrified look.

Tired of continuing to hold his wings up, the man set them down, draping the floor and over Erica like a blanket.

"Waaaah! They're so soft and fluffy!" the girl cooed, petting the silver-white feathers.

Yue fought against the urge to pull away. No one touched his wings like that until now! The man guessed that the girl was an exception.

Erica continued to feel his wings happily and Yue just watched. She didn't seems to notice him doing that, though, just as he didn't really care about Erica touching his feathers.

Then the female stopped and looked suspiciously at Yue. "You have magic, right? So couldn't you have dried yourself instantly?"

Yue felt the girl's temper flare. "Yes."

"Then why the hell didn't you tell me that instead of me laboring over your voluminous amount of hair and fuzzy wings! Do you know how hard it was to dry all that?"

"Because I liked your way better."

Erica stared at the moon guardian. Standing up to walk away, far away, from the man, Yue raised his wing up, blocking the path of escape for the girl.

"What do you want now, you slave driver?" the girl snapped.

"I want you to stay," the man whispered.

Erica's amber eyes flashed dangerously. Taking a step forward, she growled, "So, what? Not everyone likes wasting time on complete, wet strangers when some people should be looking for their friends when they're more than an hour late!"

Yue quickly got up and backed away as Erica advanced toward him, hands itching to inflict pain.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the woman hissed. "Save your freakin' comments to yourself and don't make others do their work for you! Come back here!"

Yue dodged the female's attempt to choke him and explained, "You took my words the wrong way! I just wanted you to stay because it feels better to have you next to me that me looking at you from a distance!"

"You WHAT! So you're saying that you watched me many times through the windows? OLD LECHER!"

"No! It's just that I—" Yue grabbed one of Erica's wrists, "—I just want to—" he grabbed the other flailing hand, "I just want to say…."

Erica glared viciously up at the man, raising a foot up so she could kick him. Yue knew that only something shocking would stop the girl's rampage. Why did she have such a quick temper whenever she was embarrassed?

"I wanted to say…I LOVE YOU!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?"

By mistake, Erica stepped on the trailing towel that Yue was wearing and before the whole thing could completely slip off, he grabbed the end and stepped back. Unfortunately, at the same time, Erica slipped on the towel and crashed into the man. Unable to stop their fall since Yue's hands were full (one on the slipping towel and other still on Erica's wrist), they fell onto the edge of the ledge where the main doorway and all the slipper and shoes were.

Then the door opened.

A thoroughly soaked Jackie walked in with his hand still on the doorknob. Apparently, he didn't care how wet he was or that he was making a puddle on the floor. All he did was stare at Yue whose head was hanging off the ledge, one hand on a towel that was down his lower midriff and another hand on Erica's wrist. She was on top of the man, hair messed up and slightly pink.

"Uh…am I interrupting something?" Jackie asked, eyebrows raised high up and new glasses slipping off his nose.

Before the two people could object, Jennie came in with Toya, both somewhat dryer than Jackie. Toya, too, stared at Erica and Yue on the floor. Jennie still had her attention on closing the open door.

"Jennie, don't look!" Jackie yelled.

"Huh, what? OH MY MOTHER OF GOD, MY EYES! MY EYES!" the braided-hair teen screamed. She ran out into the rain again.

Toya continued to stare in total shock. So did Jackie.

Finally, Toya said, unbelieving, "You're Yue…right?"

Erica and Yue looked at each other. Groaning, the amber-eyed girl slammed her head down into the man's chest, trying to hide her burning face. Yue, however, shouted out, "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

As if it wasn't a long day already, it seemed like it had just gotten much longer. Especially for the moon guardian and Erica.

Well, love is harsh and accidents from it are worse.

* * *

A/N: Oh, wow…Sorry for not updating for two months…. Technically, my excuse for not updating in the first place is because I was too lazy to start typing this massive chapter. It took some days to actually finish it and let's just say that I was VERY happy when it was done. Thank my co-author/editor Mushroom-sama for forcing me to get off my ass and continue this story. Also, was being a troublesome, stubborn twerp when I tried to upload this chapter for three days, all at different intervals, until I finally succeeded in updating late in the night. Gah.

Well, thanks to all the reviewers! They are Isis the Sphinx, egyptluvergurl, Valinor's Twilight, HeartBandit23, Mushroom-sama, and Akari Ishtaru! Thanks for reviewing people!

I'll probably update next month so…yeah. As usual, review and review!


	8. Chapter 8 Ice and Darkness

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: MERRY RED AND GREEN PRESENT GIVING!

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 8 – Ice and Darkness

For weeks on end, Jackie and Jennie relentlessly teased Erica about the incident when she had fallen into Yue, who had only a towel around his body. Luckily, Yukito couldn't remember what happened and Toya didn't say anything at all. Sometimes Tomoyo, Sakura, or Li would wonder what the trio was yelling about, but before they got their answers, Toya would always push them away from Jennie or Jackie. Eventually, the little kids marked this accident a mystery they would never figure out.

Ironically, Jennie and Jackie didn't explain about their little love adventure about Toya or Tomoyo. They kept it all to themselves, too preoccupied with torturing Erica to really give out any clues about it. What they did share was what they had learned from the dead cactus from Jennie and the attack of the Sirens from Jackie.

It was now obvious that there was some web that froze time and trapped souls which it had captured inside its dome. The web was summoned by a human and the web itself was controlled by a master of ice and time. This web was also very big. But…if it was so big, how come it was nowhere to be seen? As for the summoner, the one the cactus had warned about, knew who the trio were and vice versa. But who could be that twisted to bring an invisible web, the Time Web, that trapped physics itself? Who could be that evil?

On a Saturday, school had finished early for the day and everybody left for home so they could spend time running around and having fun. However, Jennie was back at work again so she could check up on something and Jackie was at home, tinkering with some new project he had inside his inventing mind. Only Erica was left and she went out to get the groceries. That was okay with her. At least she could evade Jackie's evil, perverted remarks about her and Yue at home.

As Erica picked out some lemons and apples, the girl wondered vaguely if Jackie or Jennie had little crushes of their own. Jackie was out of the question immediately. How could he find a crush in a class of ten year olds? Tomoyo seemed interested in him, but even if it was true, the hacker-boy probably wouldn't even like it. Jennie was a different matter. Something was going on between Toya and her since they always stuck with each other at school during break time or at gym. Erica even saw them hold hands once, but it was very brief when other people passed by. The amber-eyed girl laughed to herself. If she didn't know any better, the two were probably dating already.

Thanking the shop keeper, Erica moved onto the next store to look for dishwasher detergent. After she had gotten that, the girl's next stop was a flower shop so the plants could clean the air inside the house instead of using electric air scents. Thinking briefly, Erica decided to visit where Jennie was working. After all, that was the same place where Toya was. She wondered if anything "special" happened there.

Taking the straight road, it started to get tiring when the shop Erica was looking for didn't show up. How did Jennie manage to walk to work when she lived so far away? Erica took a deep breath and thanked herself that she didn't buy anything that might rot if it wasn't in the fridge. Looking around, the amber-eyed female spotted an alleyway right next to her. Peeking through, she saw light and a patch of grass some way off. Thinking, Erica remembered that the road she was in was directly across the road the flower shop was on. Perhaps if she took a shortcut through the alley, Erica might get at the store in record time. Soon, the woman went through and jogged over to the opposite end, groceries in her arms.

What she saw at the end was not the view she had expected. Instead of seeing stores and some traffic, Erica stumbled into some circular clearing. The backs of buildings circled around it and ivy had climbed over the gray stone. The ground had old stones with tufts of bright green grass coming out of the cracks. What puzzled Erica the most, besides all the greens, was the white marble fountain in the middle.

Erica, setting down the grocery bags, walked closer to it, her amber eyes reflecting the sun coming off the sculpture. It was strange. On the top, a man with messy hair and eyes that looked off into the distance wore a cloak and sat atop a boulder surrounded with ruin. From the boulder squirted clear water that splashed into the bowl below. The fountain was pretty large and the rim of the dish was large enough to lie on. Taking a look around the fountain, Erica suddenly stopped and gawked at a man that looked exactly like the figure atop the fountain. He was sleeping peacefully on the bowl's edge.

Walking closely to the male, Erica saw that she was right. The mystery person had untidy black hair, pale skin, and was clad in black. Most would regard the person as handsome, but something about him wasn't right. It was like his body was some mask (if that was even possible).

Curious and shaking the snoozing man gently (his body was cold), Amber Eyes whispered, "Um, excuse me? I'm sorry, but could you tell me who you are?"

Abruptly, the person opened his eyes, making Erica jump. He had ice-blue eyes. Instantly, the girl remembered Jackie's description on the Sirens he had fought. They all were the color black and had the same color irises that the male in front of her had. Erica began to back away as he sat up.

The mystery person got off the fountain and as he stood up and contacted the ground with his feet, ice shot out of everything he touched, wrapping the whole area in frost. The ivy was now razors, the grass under Erica's feet chipped, and the fountain itself was encased in a block of ice, the water frozen in place.

The man started to walk toward Erica and when she tried to back away, she almost ended up falling over. Shocked, the amber-eyed girl looked down at her feet. They were frozen into the ice and couldn't be removed. Looking up, she saw the man two feet away from her. Erica put up her fists. The male smirked in amusement.

"You really can't believe that you can beat me like that," he said, speaking for the first time. His voice was strange; it was smooth and deep, but there was another voice, a grainy, old one, with it­—two voices in one.

Wryly, Erica shot back, "At least it's better than fainting or bawling like a baby."

The man walked around the woman like a wolf, as if sizing her up for a particularly tasty meal.

"Who are you?" the girl snapped.

The man smiled cynically. "You know who I am."

Eyes wide, Erica twisted her feet hard to the side and broke the ice. Sliding backwards on the slippery stones, she glared at the man. "So you're the Ice Master, huh? The guy who's been causing all this trouble."

"More or less." the man said conversationally. "I'm using one of the bodies I had captured in my web and just donning it with my voice and looks."

"For some reason, you strike me as a Black Widow spider," Erica spat. Something was trembling under the ice.

The ice king laughed evilly. "I have been called that many times through the centuries. However, enough chit-chat for now. Let us get into the Awakening, shall we?"

"Wha—" Before the female could ask what he meant, the shaking ground sprung out with hundreds of spikes that were as tall as her. They were coming toward her and Erica ran, slipped, slid, whatever to escape the glittering knives.

As the woman ran around in circles, the black-haired man simply walked about, talking in his dual voice. Watching Erica with his blue, cold eyes, he chanted happily, "You can't keep yourself down. You can't keep your true powers hidden, hidden in the depths of your soul, just waiting to be used. Awakening your true self is the hardest to do and let's see if you can survive my chilling ordeal."

"Shut UP!" Erica gasped as she stumbled backwards. Then she turned around and ran at the Master of the Time Web.

Just as the girl slid under the man's legs, the spikes stopped shooting up as it cut off a button from his sable, silken shirt, barely missing his body.

"Hmm, clever." the ice man approved, turning to face the sitting girl behind him. She was starting to shiver from the cold even though she began to sweat. "Yes, almost got killed by my own attack. It's unfortunate that now you have to face me!"

A cracking noise filled he air as an ice sword covered his right arm. It glinted dangerously in the sunlight. Quickly, Erica scrambled back as the man struck down where she used to be. A small crater appeared from the force, but filled up again with ice. Erica's situation had gotten worse.

As the man expertly maneuvered on the ice and swung repeatedly at Erica (who ran away or slid), he laughed crazily, "Awaken your true self! Use your power! Use your powers to unlock Time Web's true form!"

Erica bumped into the wall and winced as the pointy ivy poked at her back. Ice Man struck again, cutting a few hairs from the woman's head. The Master of Time grabbed her throat as pushed Erica against the sharp ivy. She bit back a cry as she felt blood go down her back.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" the male hissed into her ear. "If you could bring out your power, maybe you can heal yourself."

"I don't know what the shit's ass you're talking about," Erica said, voice dripping with venom.

The man turned around and threw Erica onto the floor. She slid back a few feet away before she stopped. The amber-eyed girl weakly got up and faced the jeering man.

Raising his sword, the male said softly, "Perhaps this'll bring you out."

Abruptly a torrent of tiny icicles came out of the sword and cut Erica's arms, legs, and face as it shredded her clothes. The girl fell back down again, bleeding profusely. Again the hurricane of ice hit Erica. She covered he face as it battered her and stayed like that as the hurricane came again and again and again, almost leaving no skin on the side of Erica's limbs.

The Ice King raised his sword back up again for another blow as the tired girl struggled back up. However, she fell back down and lay still. Frowning slightly, the man walked toward Erica, wondering if he had killed her by mistake.

"Wake you, you useless girl. Don't make me shoot another round," he threatened, kicking the half-conscious lady. He turned over the woman and aimed his sword, this time over her heart.

"Perhaps you're not the Darkness holder. Maybe it's one of your siblings. That has happened once before, you know. Two powers in one person…. Yes, that must be it. You're just an empty shell." the man leered, chuckling. "And I'll do the same method I used on you to bring the power out. Yes, sounds mighty fun."

Suddenly, Erica grabbed the king's blade even though she still had her eyes closed. "Don't you dare touch them."

With that, the amber-eyed girl broke the sword and twisted the male's arm along with it. Pulling away, the man watched Erica stand up, swaying dizzily from the loss of blood.

The controller of the Time Web smiled cruelly. "She has awakened."

* * *

Meanwhile, both Jennie, Jackie, and everybody else in the city saw the sun all of a sudden shadowed by a solar eclipse. The town plunged into a dim darkness.

"What's going on?" Toya whispered, frowning at the unnatural phenomenon.

The plans in the flower shop all shrieked abruptly, causing Jennie to cover her ears. Toya caught the braided-hair girl before she fell and asked if she was alright. However, she didn't respond as she looked into the black sun.

* * *

Jackie looked up from his work and pulled the shades away. The whole city was dark and only the light from houses and shops could be seen. People driving on the streets looked up and pointed at the solar eclipse. The hacker-boy gazed at the sun. Why were its rays so dim? This wasn't natural. What was going on?

* * *

Erica felt woozy and saw everything in stars. Too weak to care about anything, the amber-eyed female felt something like mist creep up her skin. It was cool and felt nice on her gashed flesh. The girl looked down and saw a black fog around her, creeping into the wounds, filling them up, and healing them. More fog arrived from the growing shadows. Erica's vision became better and better. Then she faced toward the Master of Ice. The fog swirled around the ground, around her.

"Don't touch my friends. If you do, I'll kill you," Erica warned. Her voice was almost as icy as the ground she was standing on.

The man stretched. He reformed his sword again and pointed at the frozen fountain, bowing at Erica mockingly as if to say that wouldn't attack her…yet.

The woman walked toward it and looked at her reflection. Her hair was still black, but her skin was deathly pale. Her eyes…her eyes were now deep amethyst. Erica turned around and raised her hand. A shadow materialized beside the king, leaped up, and broke off the whole sword. It ate the ice and covered the man's arm.

He shook it in an almost bored way. "Not bad. Can't use my sword now, can I? Well, let's see how much you know."

One of the spikes that Erica had run away from before appeared. However, another shadow showed up and splintered the spikes in the same shape. After that, the other shadow that was on the enemy's arm shot up and wrapped itself around the person's neck. It squeezed and the man gagged.

"I'm not in the mood to play." Erica hissed. "Nor am I inclined to have mercy on the person who tortured me to get this power out."

"Reasonable," the male laughed, but winced when the dark matter squeezed harder.

"Get out of that body and return to your domain. I have no intention to kill the person you inhabiting."

"You're different in personality and speech, too. How interesting."

"Go. NOW!"

"All right, but I won't go without some reward."

Then he stabbed himself in the stomach just as the solar eclipse ended.

Sneering at Erica's horrified face (which had returned to normal as daylight returned), the image of the Master of the Time Web disappeared, leaving an old man falling onto the ground.

The area de-iced and the fountain continued to bubble happily. Giving out a little cry, Erica ran toward the bleeding grandpa. As she got close to him, she noticed that he wore a ragged suit that seemed to come from the late 1800s. Something was also strange about him: he had purple eyes and withered old dragon wings on his back.

The amber-eyed female turned the man over and against the wall.

"That damn bastard…. Mister! Can you hear me?" Erica called.

The old male nodded as he gazed at the girl next to him. With a frail hand, he touched her cheek, her shredded clothes, and finally her shoulder.

"You're the next one," he wheezed, coughing up blood.

"I'll get a doctor!" the teen said with anxiety. "Just stay here!"

Erica tried to stand up, but the man held her down by her shoulder. "No…listen to me. I will die very soon and you must know. The Time Web…its summoner…I do not know, but that is not important yet. The Time Web…."

He drifted and took a deep breath. As if touching into some hidden (probably last of his) power, the elderly man continued with clear eyes, "The Time Web is like a black hole. It can destroy matter, space, light, and even time. However, unlike a black hole, this Web is controlled by a dangerous man of ice. He can control the web to destroy or create. He sucks in as much life energy there is, gradually seeping it out of people, too, if they go near it. However, the Time Web can only reach its full potential if it acquires a Dark user. From then on, the Dark user is trapped forever in that infernal void. Also, the Web can use its Dark Mages to attack other elementals in any form. Our actions are not our own. We are controlled.

"Apparently, I had thought I could deal with the Time Web alone without the help of my comrades. I was wrong. The minute I went in, I was gone. The Web had gained its power and almost destroyed this world. Only when my partners came, they banished the Web in trade for their lives. Even with their combined efforts, though, they could not destroy the Web. They could only expel it to an endless void. Please, be careful. The Master of the Time Web is…sly and dangerous. That is probably…the reason why he chose me to tell you…this. He wants you to see what he can do…. I wouldn't…I wouldn't…even be surprised that he wanted…me to tell…you this. Be strong…. Do not…do not be afraid…of what…you…can…do…."

Then the old man closed his weary amethyst eyes and turned to dust in Erica's hands. Even the red blood that was left faded into gas. The amber-eyed girl looked up into the sky. Taking a deep breath, Erica got up on her feet, ripped her shredded sleeves and jeans into a demented form of punk-ware shirt and shorts, picked up her groceries at the entrance, and walked through the alley, going straight home.

* * *

Somewhere else, not so far away inside a huge dome, a man, half-covered in shadows, lounged on a stone throne, watching a levitating globe portraying the image of Jennie and Jackie fighting over the remote for the T.V. while Erica laughed at her friends.

Suddenly, footsteps sound and stopped. Another male figure was right beside the seated man. In a quiet voice, he asked, "Is it wise for you to give so much information about the Time Web? I advise you not to underestimate them. They are stronger than they look."

The seated man smiled treacherously. "Are you challenging my tactics, summoner? After all, I am doing this to grant your request after resurrecting me. Might as well do it my way, don't you think?"

"I am not challenging your choices." the other frowned. "It's the sense that baffles me."

"Then just watch."

There was silence as Jennie whacked at Jackie for biting her hand. The orb vibrated from the yells.

"They will find you eventually," the standing man added.

The sitting male laughed cynically and said with confidence, "Let them find me. I expect them to come. After all, I have laid out the clues. I just expect them to fall into my trap."

"You will be destroyed," the other argued. Then he turned around and receded into the blackness.

The man on the throne bared his teeth in agitation. With a violent swipe of the hand, the orb turned off and the dome faded into complete darkness.

"I will kill them. I will not be banished into the void again…."

* * *

A/N: Yay!!! Done! Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I mean, it was kind of obvious that Erica had some secret power one or the other. I just hope I didn't make her too important….

Anyway, this is my Christmas present to all of you. To those who reviewed (who are DarkHand27, Valinor's Twilight, Mushroom-sama, SwordsMagician, and HeartBandit23), thanks very much!

See you next month!


	9. Chapter 9 A Bit of Chinese Spice

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

A/N: Before you continue on to read this chapter, I'd like to note that this chapter was from the second revision of this story (the one that you're reading now is the third revision) so it may seem a bit detached from the main storyline. No matter. This chapter was just put in to give you guys a break and some laughter (I hope) until the plot starts up again. Sorry for the inconvenience and please review after reading.

Chapter 9 – A Bit of Chinese Spice

It was another boring school day for Jackie as he poked at a hole on his desk during lunch break. Having finished all his homework already, he had nothing to do, but stare at nothing and count sheep. However, this boredom was but a passing moment as a voice interrupted Jackie's aimless daydreams.

"Jaaaaackieeeee!" some of Jackie's girl classmates cooed as they held their reading workbooks.

The boy looked up and almost groaned. Ever since he got a perfect score on the fall exams (seriously, how hard can a fifth grade test be to an eleventh grader?), everyone had been either asking him for answers, asking to help them study, or inquiring to tutor them. It was _really_ annoying.

"Yes, girls?" Jackie replied in a strained sweet voice at the group of females in front of him.

One of the lasses came up and shyly said, "Could you be so nice as to help us with our homework? We don't really get it."

Jackie wanted to yell so badly, "GO TO HELL AND DIE," but he said, "Of course. Get a seat and I'll help you."

Ah…the tortures of being smart.

Somewhere close by in the classroom, Li was complaining as usual about a certain other Chinese boy.

"I don't get it." Syaoran muttered. "It's clear that he wants to be alone, but he's helping them anyway. What wrong with him? Can't he afford to help us kids who happened to have normal intelligence compare to him?"

Sakura blinked and Tomoyo contradicted, "Well, it must be a bit annoying for him since everyone does go to him for help instead of figuring out by themselves or asking the teacher. Also, he seems to be really stressed out lately."

"Why? Did something happen to Jackie?" the Card Captor questioned with concern.

Tomoyo was quiet for awhile, thinking. Suddenly, she got up and announced, "We'll invite him and his sisters to the carnival!"

"HUH?" Sakura and the Chinese boy said with obvious confusion.

Sakura's friend added to her comment, "Didn't you say that a carnival opened recently and that we should all go sometime? What if we went today with the others? Jennie and Erica also seem to be really distant so we should cheer them up, too!"

"We can invite Yukito!" Sakura included excitedly.

"And your brother. Don't forget him," Tomoyo reminded.

"Hmph! I don't my brother to come. He'll start annoying us when we're supposed to have fun!"

"I agree," Li said stubbornly, "he'll spoil everything."

Tomoyo smiled. "But he's probably the only person that can control Jennie, Erica, and Jackie from going nuts and running away to do something equally insane."

"Like fighting or getting into a lot of trouble?" Sakura volunteered mournfully.

Tomoyo nodded seriously.

"He can come," Li grumbled. He already didn't like the sound of this….

* * *

"Tell me again WHY we're doing this?" Jennie said crossly, huddling in her jacket.

After Jackie can gone home after two hours of nonstop persuasion from Tomoyo to go to the fair with her and her friends, he had unexpectedly told the two girls back at home that they were invited to go to a carnival in town at six with the Card Captor cast, which, by that time, was five in the afternoon when he told the two girls. After eating dinner quickly and running to the where the festival was taking place, the three students ended up coming there earlier than they were supposed to…which also meant they had to wait in the cold, fall weather for some time. Ironically, many people were out at the cavalcade despite the freezing air and the loud festivities and scrumptious smells that came behind the three waiting "siblings" were making them eager to start on their little adventure.

"I'll say it again." the hacker-boy repeated slowly to the cranky girl beside him. "We're going to a carnival with the Card Captor cast to gain their trust. They still don't know if we're really good or not. Besides, I already promised Tomoyo that we would come."

Jennie shivered violently and muttered something inaudible. Then she glanced at Erica, who was running around the entrance of the gala, marveling at the noise, games, rides, food, and lights.

"Well…at least someone's having fun," Jennie said sarcastically.

Jackie laughed. "She looks like she's going to run in there in any moment and maul every doll and cotton candy stand there in her excitement."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she actually did."

The two laughed good-naturedly and waved gratefully at the arriving Card Captor group. Erica just flew out of nowhere as the two clusters greeted each other, landing on her butt and shouting curse words, making people look at the cussing girl. Apparently, she was standing on the jamboree gate ledge and had slipped off.

As Jackie slapped his hand on his face and the Card Captor cast stared at the still swearing teen, Jennie smirked, "Well, let's get this party started!"

* * *

For the next two or three hours, the friends played games, went on rides, teased each other, ate innumerable amount of snacks, and chased each other across the fête grounds. Gradually, more and more people came than before, creating a magical, lively scene. Every color from the rainbow flashed in everything around them, laughter was heard in every corner, mouth-watering smells wafted into the atmosphere, and there were smiles on everyone's faces. Even the cold air proved to be a trivial matter since there was much to distract everyone from it. It was all very, very good.

Jackie watched everyone shout and cheer from a little distance away as Erica and Jennie competed to shoot all the ducks off the stand with toy rifles so they could get a huge polar bear the size of Sakura. While Erica was shooting every duck with pin-point accuracy, Jennie shot everything that _wasn't_ a duck. It was fascinating, really; the stand owner was ducking every second so he wouldn't get shot by the braided-hair girl.

The hacker-boy sighed, sitting on a bench. The place was fun and everything, but he didn't really feel festive at the moment. The Time Web was somewhere out there and he wondered if it was close by….

Suddenly, Tomoyo appeared in front of Jackie and sat next to him. Cocking her head to one side, she asked, "Why aren't you joining us? We passed by several rides and games, but you missed them all."

Jackie looked up at the night sky. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"If you don't mind, I would like to hear them."

The boy glanced at Tomoyo with a curious look.

"I just thought you might need someone to talk to other than your sisters," Sakura's friend added with a smile.

"Thanks," Jackie grinned back, "that's really nice of you, but…but…hey. Where'd everyone go?"

The place where Jackie's and Tomoyo's friends were was empty with the keeper of the stand grudgingly looking at the bullet holes that Jennie had made. There was no trace of them at all as if they had disappeared into thin air. The two children got up to their feet and looked around for them.

"Oh my…I think we lost them," Tomoyo said with worry.

Jackie rolled his eyes. "Great. They left us without even noticing."

"What do we do? How can we find them in this crowd?"

The once-teen boy looked around and ran to the keeper of the duck shooting stall. "Mister, did one of the girls that were playing here get the polar bear?"

The man nodded and glanced at Jackie suspiciously. "Why? You know her? She needs to pay me for the damages she made."

"Uh…no, I…uh…don't really know her. Sorry."

With that, Jackie took Tomoyo's hand and led (ran, rather) the way. Speaking as he went, he rapidly explained, "If we go to the Ferris wheel that's ahead of us and ride it, we might be able to find the others. I mean, how hard can it be to find a huge polar bear that's dragging around under a girl's arm?"

Tomoyo looked at her hand that was held by Jackie. Then at him. When the boy stopped momentarily to ask if she was alright, she smiled shyly and gripped his hand tighter as he continued on his way. He was so kind….

* * *

The two children arrived at the Ferris wheel. It shone with neon brilliance with complicated geometric shapes glittering on it creating a spectacular light show. People around the wheel were mostly watching the beautiful sight than actually riding the ride. Unfortunately, Jackie and Tomoyo didn't have the leisure to stop and stare. They quickly paid the control man and ran to last remaining cart of the Ferris wheel.

As the two climbed on to the cart, rotated on top of the Ferris wheel, looked around so they could see everything, they couldn't spot a polar bear anywhere, nevertheless Sakura and the others.

"I can't find them, Jackie. What do we do now?" Tomoyo said, voice lined with fret.

Jackie licked his lips and looked out of the other windows. "Keep looking out for them. I'm sure they wouldn't have left the carnival without us."

Then something gave out a piercing metallic screech and the ride grew still.

The black-haired girl looked warily around. "What was that? Why did the wheel stop?"

Jackie gazed down and saw the control man trying several levers and buttons to make the Ferris wheel move. After the man hurriedly left and came back with technicians, Jackie realized that the machine had broken down momentarily. He said this to Tomoyo and she looked startled, but quickly became calm. Jackie made the standing girl sit and he sat next to her.

The hacker-boy said in a soothing tone, "It's okay. They'll fix it. For now, just relax and look around. This might be a blessing in disguise."

"Shouldn't we look for our friends?" Tomoyo inquired.

Jackie smiled as leaned his head on his hand. "If you want to do that, I won't stop you. I just think it's going to make you more nervous. Relax. Look at the city and the sky, Tomoyo."

The girl watched the Chinese boy look out, frowning. Tomoyo turned away to look out at the other side. The sight really was stunning. She had always seen the same city over and over again, but seeing it high up gave it a different view. Lights flickered like stars and a sunset seemed to be on the ground as buildings and cars gave out beams of red, orange, and white. The sky above was a thick, navy, almost like velvet spread across a table with diamonds spilling across it. All together, the city and the sky looked like the sunset and the night had come together to share both of their splendor. It was so, so very beautiful.

Tomoyo grinned with serenity. Then she looked a Jackie. Perhaps this _was_ a blessing in disguise….

* * *

When Jennie and the others saw Jackie and Tomoyo go onto the Ferris wheel, Li wheeled around to glare at Jennie and Erica, angry at the fact they purposely ditched and were now stalking the two children. "What are we doing? Why are we hiding from them?"

"Yes," Sakura included, "I don't understand either."

"It's for me to know and for you to figure out," Jennie said smartly.

Toya, who didn't know the braided-hair girl for a very long time, already knew that her mischievous look meant something bad. He didn't like the way Jennie was acting either. "Seriously, you little shrimp, what _are_ you doing?"

Jennie rolled her eyes. "Can't you just stand and watch?"

"But wha—"

"Watch!"

"But—"

"Shush! Watch!"

"Wha—"

"WATCH!"

"Fi—"

"JUST SHUT UP AND WATCH, DAMNIT!"

Toya sulked and fell silent. Yukito leaned over to Erica and gave her a confused look. Erica shrugged. She was just as clueless as everyone else. Then Jennie spun around and told everyone to stay behind the crowd and to keep the stuffed polar bear hidden (it was currently stuffed under a nearby bench) while she and Erica moved. With that, the crazy girl dragged the amber-eyed one and quickly disappeared into the throng.

"I hope they won't do anything stupid…" Li said under his breath.

"For some reason, I really doubt that,"Yukito said happily, sitting on the bench that the polar bear was hidden under.

Everyone stared at the man.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Meanwhile, Jennie showed Erica the Ferris wheel's generator, the fence gate that was guarding it neatly wrenched and left wide open. Almost immediately, Erica glared at her best friend.

"No way," she growled.

"Oh, come oooooon!" Jennie whined.

"I'm not gonna turn it off."

"Why! It's not like we're going to get in trouble anyway!"

"Jackie and Tomoyo are up there!"

"So? Tomoyo likes Jackie, you know."

All of a sudden, Erica cracked her knuckles. A similar scary glint not unlike Jennie's shone in the girl's eyes. "Then that's a whole different story! Sorry, Jackie, but this is a chance too good to pass up."

With that, the girl grabbed the generator lever and pulled it down. All of a sudden, the colors vanished and all movement on the wheel had stopped. Some people were screaming, but that didn't matter. The two girls had already made a run for it.

* * *

As the two children traded views and told short stories, the situation seemed to be fine and well. Jackie wondered where everyone was, but vaguely thought about it as he stared out of the windows. However, the situation was about to get worse.

With another creak, the cart in which Jackie and Tomoyo swerved dangerously to one side from strong wind and making Tomoyo crash into the Chinese boy. Jackie slammed into the pane hard and his glasses fell off to the side. Squinting and half-suffocating, Jackie gagged at the window and saw two blurry female figures looking at him in the same way, peering. With wide eyes, he bared his teeth. Now he knew everything.

"Why those stupid…. I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he yelled, trying to break the window and shaking the cart.

Suddenly, someone squeaked and fell off, making Jackie drag along to the floor. Then he hit something hard, stars shining in his eyes. Blinking off tears, he noticed that he was on top of Tomoyo, who was holding her forehead painfully. Ah. So _that_ was the hard object that Jackie had hit with his head. Then the two children stared at each other, just realizing in how uncomfortable their position was.

"Uh…I'll just move out of the way…" the boy muttered, trying to move in the tight space. Tomoyo was blushing furiously and tried to move at the same time.

As Tomoyo moved to one side and Jackie at the other end, the cart went haywire, tilting again, causing the two crash into each other again. When the girl and boy held onto each other so they could balance the swerving cart, they both turned their heads at the same time and….

"AHHHHHH!" the two kids screamed in utter shock.

Tomoyo was covering her mouth and Jackie was covering his own with his sleeve. With wide eyes, they thought with alarm, 'My first kiss…!'

"Um…this never happened, right?" Jackie said nervously. He knew how girls were all psychotic on their first kiss and the major importance of it. Now that Tomoyo and he had…you know, he didn't know how the girl would react.

"Er…sorry," he added feebly.

Sakura's friend blinked, started to giggle, and finally laughed. It was so contagious that even Jackie had to eventually chuckle. Abruptly, the Ferris wheel moved again and set the two laughing children, finally, to ground zero.

* * *

"Tomoyo!" Sakura cried as she ran toward her best friend. Li followed after her and asked Tomoyo if she was alright.

Jackie simply pat the girl in question on the shoulder and went on to his "sisters." Tomoyo said happily, "I'm fine. Jackie took good care of me."

Li glared at Erica and Jennie. Those two girls were the ones that caused all this trouble…and why was Tomoyo so ridiculously happy?

Jackie, meanwhile, was being bothered relentlessly by Toya.

"Did you know how worried everyone had been? Yukito had to go and find technicians and probably got lost in the process since he didn't come back yet," the big brother of Sakura scolded. Jackie rolled his eyes.

"Look," the hacker-boy said exasperatedly, "I never wanted to be stuck there in the first place so please shut up. We'll find Yukito sooner or later anyway."

Toya simply huffed and stared angrily at nothing in particular. Then Jennie hinted slyly, "Sooo, Jackie, did anything special happen up there?"

Toya and Jackie bristled and a growing dark aura appeared around the small boy.

"What about the Ferris wheel? Did you do anything weird?" the older boy asked, alarmed.

Jackie's eye twitched. "Speaking about the Ferris wheel, who's the dead woman that shut it off?"

Jennie sensed Jackie's dangerous warning signs and pointed at Erica next to her. "Psychopath was the one that shut the generator off!"

"You WHAT!" Toya exclaimed.

"Why are you blaming me! You're the one that told me to do that, Jennie!" Amber Eyes accused, glaring at the braided-hair girl.

Jackie started to laugh freakishly, making Toya back away and the two girls flinch. Jackie's eyes glinted insanely. A sudden strong wind blew. The hacker-boy clenched his hands and bellowed:

"YOU BOTH DIE NOW!"

With that, Erica and Jennie screamed bloody murder and ran off with Jackie hot on their heels, yelling various curses. The noise drifted into the air, past the startled faced of the Card Captor cast and a dazed Yukito as he was pushed away by Jennie. The sounds floated above the sunset city and into the diamond scattered navy sky above, ending the day with a bit of Chinese spice.

* * *

A/N: Well, I had fun typing this up. Anyway, as I have said before, this chapter was from my second revision on Prophecy Beta. See, the first revision was going to be about Inuyasha, but I thought that people who read Yu-Gi-Oh, might not know what Inuyasha was. Besides, that died on the fifth chapter. The second revision was Card Captor Sakura, but it kept going on and on and wasn't even halfway done by chapter eighteen. Obliviously, I scrapped that version, too. Finally, here's the third version and I am very happy to say that it came out okay. The pairings for this was murder, though….

So when does Prophecy Beta take place in the CCS (Card Captor Sakura) timeline? Originally, I had intended to place PB (Prophecy Beta) after the second CCS series. However, that proved to be inconvenient since Li left almost right after the plot of the main second CCS plot ended. My "editor" had oh-so-helpfully pointed that out to me AFTER I wrote the whole story. So I had to fix some parts of this tale…again (then would this be the fourth revision then?). Soooo, I, in the end, placed the story in the gap between the first and second CCS series. That was the only time there seemed to be a huge space there….

But enough of my rambling. HERE'S TO THE REVIEWERS!

Mushoom-sama, egyptluvergurl, Isis the Sphinx, Valinor's Twilight, Taken4ever23.

Thanks for reviewing guys! Of course, if you don't review for this one then…I'M GONNA SEND THE RABID JACKIE AT YOU!

…Or you'll just have a cookie.

REVIEW!


	10. Chapter 10 Alliance

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: I still own Erica, Jackie, and Jennie…but everything else is phooey.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

Chapter 10 – Alliance

Erica sneezed into her tissue as she watched the news comment about the weird solar eclipse on the previous day.

"What's strange is that the sun, moon, and earth weren't aligned at all during this eclipse," the news woman said.

A scientist specialized in astronomy nodded and added, "Also, this phenomenon was only seen in this city. No one else saw it outside here."

As two continued to talk, Erica sneezed again, hating the Master of time for giving her a cold with the icy scenario that he had created yesterday. She had to walk home in shorts and a t-shirt, too, because her clothes were shredded beyond repair by _him_. Erica sniffled; she hated colds.

Jennie came over to her suffering friend and handed her a new tissue box. Jackie was nearby, putting on a coat and holding Jennie's jacket. It was obvious they were going out somewhere.

"Pretty funky, huh?" the braided hair girl commented, watching the news, too.

Erica didn't say anything. She still didn't tell her friends about the day before and didn't want them to worry about her being some key to the Time Web.

Then Jennie pat Erica on the shoulder, told her that Jackie and her would be back in two hours, and left the house. Erica opened the new tissue box and stared at it. This was the first time she had ever kept something away from Jackie or Jennie. Was she changing? What was going to happen after this?

* * *

As the little boy and the teen girl walked down to the shop district and window shopped, they were still at a loss at what to give their female best friend for her birthday. Also, the two had agreed to give one present from both of them. Apparently, though, the friends kept disagreeing on what to buy.

"Since we can't think about anything, let's count down to what our amber-eyed friend likes." Jennie suggested, already thinking. "Knowing Erica, she'll probably want something that she'll need. She hates junk."

Jackie twirled around and asked nervously, "So…we're going to give her a sword. She would want that…."

"Stupid, we agreed a long time ago that giving the psychopath any weapons was a threat to the world. Besides, we need something more practical."

"A dress? I think she'll look nice in a dress."

"She'll kill you, Jackie."

"Uh…I didn't think about that. What about a pencil case?"

"Too cliché."

"Jewelry?"

"Erica likes shiny stuff, but never wears jewelry."

"A cake?"

"We have to give a cake with the present, smart one."

"Oh, yeah? You try thinking of a gift! Erica's birthday is coming up in five days and we're still wondering what to give her! You think of one! You know her better than I do!"

Jennie blew out her cheeks. "Well, you're smarter than any of us! You should be thinking up something that actually makes sense and wouldn't get us killed in the process!"

"Sorry that I have a brain and actually use it for something!" the hacker-boy snapped.

"You sure about that? Your head seems a bit too small to be really thinking seriously."

"Your head is too big and has nothing but gas inside!"

"Well, you're just a moron!"

Jackie turned, facing his back toward Jennie. "Sorry, can't hear you. My ears don't pick up sound waves from stupid people."

"Yeah, so?" the braided girl glared. "Every time you open your mouth, some idiot starts talking."

"Oh, so you mean yourself?"

Jennie was about to start again, but stopped and slouched, muttering, "This is getting us nowhere, you know? We're supposed to be looking for a gift for Erica, but all we're doing is bickering."

"Yeah, we're _so_ mature for our age," Jackie smiled feebly, being sarcastic.

"No, you're fit for your age, Jackie. After all, you _are_ a fifth grader," the female snickered. The male glared, but laughed soon after.

Eventually, the duo started to walk around again, wandering in and out of stores. Of course, the two became drawn toward a bookstore, unable to pull away. Agreeing to give their best friend something from that store, they quickly went over to the aisles and debated on what the amber-eyed lass would like. Ironically, Sakura, Li, and Tomoyo were at the book shop, too, and when the two girls were about to say hello, Li stopped them and signaled them to hide. Puzzled, the girls followed Syaoran behind a bookshelf that was behind Jackie and Jennie.

"Li, what are we doing?" Sakura whispered.

The Chinese boy answered, "Lately, those people have been acting weird, going around, and getting into trouble. Just a few days ago, I heard them talk about some world."

"Um, Li?" Tomoyo said quietly. "We already know who they are. Remember that I told you about Jackie's powers and Toya mentioned something about Jennie's powers to Sakura? Jackie also said that they didn't mean any harm, either."

"I know that, but there's something else they're not telling us about," the little boy softly answered.

Then Jennie and Jackie started to talk, immediately making the Card Captor Sakura cast fall silent.

"Hey, Jack, doesn't this sound like us?" the braided-hair girl laughed. "'A boy from out time falls into a world of magic and where dreams and wishes really can come true.'"

The hacker-boy snickered and objected, "Naw, this sounds more like us: 'Three people travel into a dimension of cartoon characters and in order to get out, they must work together before it is too late.'"

"Whoa! Déjà vu, man!" Jennie smiled, reading the book herself that Jackie had read from.

"I wonder if anyone would write a story about us," Jackie pondered, looking at the books in front of him.

Jennie tapped her lips. "That'd be funny. A story about three teenagers who're trapped in an alter-dimension with no means of going home. The only way is to defeat an invisible enemy…and they're not even sure of its location. That would be a bestseller!"

"Don't forget the anime characters! The annoying ones, too!" Jackie added.

The teen girl set the fantasy book back onto the shelf and looked at it with a sad expression. Tiredly, she stated, "I want to go home."

The little lad agreed, "We all want to go back home in the real world where all this is just a fantasy. Hell, I wouldn't mind if go back to high school back home. It'll be heaven after all this."

"No doubt about that," Jennie murmured.

Suddenly, Li came out of his hiding place and accused, pointing, "I KNEW IT! You guys really are from a different world! No wonder you knew so much about us!"

Jennie and Jackie looked at each other nervously. Then Sakura and Tomoyo came out, too, looking confused. The hacker-boy slapped his forehead and Jennie sighed.

"Tell us what's going on!" Syaoran demanded. "Why are you here?"

"I _knew_ this was going to happen one way or another," Jackie hissed. Frowning for a few seconds, he finally said, "All right, we'll tell you all about us, but can we go somewhere a little quieter?"

* * *

At a nearby café that was nearly empty (after buying books for Erica's birthday present), Jennie and Jackie told their tale from the time they got sucked into portals, ended up in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, defeated the Shadow Realm, went into some other man-made portal, and up to the Card Captor Sakura world, which was where the trio was at the moment. They also explained that they wanted to go home very badly and didn't mean any harm to any of the CCS cast.

"And just to make it clear for you guys, I have powers representing the earth and Jackie has wind. Erica, for some reason, has nothing," Jennie ended.

Sakura, Li, and Tomoyo stared at the duo in front of them.

"So…you're from another world," Sakura marveled.

"And you're actually a tenth grader," Tomoyo added. Jackie nodded.

"And you think there's some threat here," Li finished.

Jackie and Jennie glanced at each other. It was a good thing that they didn't tell the kids they were imaginary. They would probably go into shock.

After a few minutes of staring, Sakura was the first one to snap out of it. Coughing, the Card Captor said in an important tone, "Since you told us of what you're really doing, I think this information might help. When I was asking about you three at the cards, it was very confusing. I never said anything about you, but it gave out a warning. I'm still not clear on it, but I think it means that one of you will be the key to awakening the Time Web to its full potential. The cards also said something about a portal to a dimension where we were created."

Jennie's eyes widened and Jackie looked at the card wielder sharply.

Li, who had also awakened from his bewilderment, included, "And I don't think Erica is powerless. Her aura, when I saw her from the beginning, was sleeping. Everyday, though, it started to get brighter and brighter. Her power is just waking up slower than you two."

"Do you have any idea on what the power is?" Jennie inquired, face serious for once.

Li and Sakura shook their heads. The two teens fell silent, thinking.

Finally, Jackie shook his head and stretched. Then he looked at both the Card Captor and the Chinese boy. "I know you've been sensing an evil presence constantly, but don't know how to deal with it. So…would you like you join us when the time comes? Even at the previous world we needed help in beating the Shadow Realm. We still need it."

"Yes, I will!" Sakura agreed, determination in her eyes. Li nodded while Tomoyo smiled.

"But that still doesn't mean I won't stop hating you," Syaoran growled at Jackie.

The hacker-boy said simply, "The feeling is mutual."

And so Jennie paid the bill and the two groups went to their different ways. However, before the CCS cast could turn around the corner, Tomoyo shouted, "We forgot to tell you something! For some reason, we get really floaty when we're near Erica! Just thought you might want to know!"

The duo waved a thank you and watched the kids disappear from sight. Soon, they, too, headed back home.

* * *

A/N: Oh, snap! I updated! Wow. Okay. Sorry to all you dedicated readers for updating with this flimsy chapter after all those months…. I feel horrible….

Anyway, the next chapter will be longer and bit funnier perhaps. Also, due to my guilt of not updating, I'll try to update this week again after the reviews stop coming in (…will _any_ come in at this point…?). So…yeah. See you all again later and PLEASE REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 11 Happy Doomsday

**Prophecy Beta**

Disclaimer: Bleh.

"When darkness comes,

And all warriors are down,

Three heroes will come and stand.

With their mighty elemental strengths,

They will banish the enemy once more,

Their second victory of their prophecy…"

A/N: Oh crud. Apparently, there has been a huge mistake in some of the chapters where Toya seems to have acknowledged Yue's existence. Apparently that is not possible if this story is in the intermission between the first CCS series and the second one. (sighs) Sorry about that. Well…to make an excuse, let's just pretend that this is an alternate world where artistic license is possible in its many wonderful ways despite the timeline of the story. Other than that, I blame my editor. (dodges a shoe thrown by her editor) HAH! (another shoe hits me on the face) Ow…. So, I suppose, when I have the free time, I'll revise this whole story over again…grah. Till then, READ ON!

Chapter 11 – Happy Doomsday

Yawning, Erica walked down the stairs to the living room. The sun was shining through the windows and there was no rain to be reported. The girl even woke up without even feeling a bit tired. Erica knew today was going to be a great day. Nothing could go wrong.

As the female walked into the kitchen to make breakfast, Jennie suddenly popped out of nowhere with a chocolate bar in her mouth and a pot and pan in her hands. She started to clash the two cooking utensils together, while shouting out, chocolate still in her mouth, "HAPRE BIRFDAY!"

"…It's my birthday?" Erica questioned, backing away from the temporarily psycho girl.

Jackie, who was behind Amber Eyes, drank a whole pot of coffee and said drowsily, "Unfortunately."

"And why the hell does she have a huge bar in her mouth?"

Jennie started to run around in circles, clashing the pots like a retarded monkey.

"Don't ask me." Jackie muttered crossly. "She was the one that woke me up to say that you're a year older."

Then the braided-hair girl crashed into the wall and knocked down the spice cabinet. Erica slapped her forehead. Today was _not_ going to be a good day.

* * *

Sakura backed away slowly from the trio. She simply came over to say hello when Erica, Jennie, and Jackie arrived at school and before she even knew what was happening, Jennie glomped her until she couldn't breathe and Jackie whispered to her strange things about Li. Syaoran ended up attacking the hacker-boy. 

"Um…what happened to them?" Tomoyo asked, startled with everyone's behavior.

Erica, who was the only calm (or tired) one, replied, "Jennie ate chocolate and Jackie drank a lot of caffeine. They're trying to celebrate as much as they can for my birthday."

Tomoyo looked up at Erica with wide eyes. "I didn't know it was your birthday!"

"Yeah, well," the amber-eyed lass snorted, "I spent my whole morning trying to stop those two from destroying the house. My b-day isn't turning out to be so great."

Toya and Yukito came over to the group after they had finished morning practice for their clubs. However, Sakura's brother instantly noticed something was wrong when Jennie suddenly jumped on him and started to hang from his neck, choking him, and Jackie was skipping around Yukito repeating, "Yue, Yue, Yue," over and over again.

Erica snapped, "Jennie, stop choking Toya or I swear I'll stash your candy supply to some place in the house where you can't find them ever again! Jackie, stop harassing Yukito, dammit!"

The braided-hair girl started to sob crocodile tears and Jackie started to skip around Erica. Students from the schools looked at the group with scared expressions.

"I knew I should've stayed home today," Erica groaned.

Tomoyo pat the girl sympathetically, that is until Jackie tackled her and started to shout about cheese and spoiled butter while shaking the poor girl.

Today was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Right in the middle of lunch time, Jennie started to moan loudly, "Ericaaaaaaaaa, you don't like me, right? That's why you're ignoring me, right? You hate me, right?" 

The amber-eyed girl twitched as she broke her chopsticks. The students in the classroom whispered among themselves and stared at the two girls. Toya (who wanted to help, but couldn't since he would be attacked by Jennie) watched Erica try to control her temper. This was the first time since he had seen the girl angry and it was very frightening. Even Yukito wouldn't go near the duo to settle things.

"DAMMIT, SHUT UP!" Erica yelled,

Jennie hesitated and then started to bawl again. "WAAAAAAA! ERICA DOESN'T LIKE ME! WAAAAAAAA!"

The poor amber-eyed girl started to hit her head against the desk.

"AND I JUST WANTED YOU TO DATE SO YOU COULD HAVE A MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY! BUT YOU STARTED TO KICK MEEEE! AND NOW YOU'RE IGNORING MEEEE!" the braided-hair girl cried.

One of the boys suggested that he wouldn't mind dating Erica, but the girl mentioned shot a look at the male that could've killed a million cockroaches. Meekly, the boy went back to his lunch.

Shooting her glare at her sister besides her, Erica growled, "You utter one more pathetic word and I'll make the rest of your pitiful life a living hell."

Jennie blinked tears and meeped, "Okay."

Then Erica glowered at everyone, immediately making them mind their own business. Toya shivered. Darn, that girl was scary!

* * *

As gym came along, Jennie had blown off some of her hyper-ness and so had Jackie, though he was very tired afterwards. While Erica and Yukito was off helping to get the equipment for the day's exercise, her two friends and the Card Captor Sakura cast met at the fence, which separated the two schools. 

"As Erica's sister, it's my mission to make her birthday as exciting as possible," Jennie declared.

"So…" Li drifted, "why did you call us over?"

"To help Erica get a boyfriend!"

Silence.

Jackie snapped, "What's wrong with you! The last time we did that, Erica nearly killed us! Besides, she doesn't like anyone here!"

"Yeah, well, you have a girlfriend and I have my…erm…_male_ friend over here. It's not fair that Erica is all lonely and liked no one!" the braided-hair girl said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

Toya looked away with a red face and Tomoyo blushed. Sakura looked with astonishment at her brother. He…and…Jennie? Whoa. Tomoyo and Jackie were predictable, but…whoa.

Jackie stared icily at his "sister." "Look you, Tomoyo is not my—"

Jennie interrupted, "ANYWAY, that's not the point!"

"What! You just wrongly told everyone that I like—" the hacker-boy shouted but Jennie ignored him and just continued on what she was about to say.

"That's not the point!" she repeated. "Does any one of you know who really likes Erica?"

Li, Tomoyo, and Sakura shook their heads. However, Jackie and Jennie exchanged dubious looks. Toya caught on instantly.

"Oh, no you don't!" he objected. "You are not going to force Yukito to turn into Yue just because of that incident-don't assume-don't…UGH! Don't do anything!"

Jennie cackled evilly. "You saw it yourself, Toya! You saw innocent Erica on top of half-naked Yue! What does that tell you?"

"WHAAAAT!" the little kids screamed.

Jackie started to laugh as Sakura asked, "What happened? What do you mean Erica was on top of Yue? Was that the thing that you didn't tell us about weeks ago?"

Then Toya started to shake the fence, yelling over Jennie's story on how it all happened, "GO HOME! I mean, GO BACK TO CLASS! YOU DON'T NEED TO HEAR WHAT HAPPENED!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?" the Card Captor shouted.

Before the little crowd could get any louder and figure out things they shouldn't figure out, Erica and Yukito came back from their work, curious about the noise.

"What's going on here?" the amber-eyed girl stated, hands on her hips. "I hope you're not telling them on what happened on that rainy day."

Laughing feebly, Jackie reassured, "Don't worry! They don't know anything about it."  
"Something did happen," Yukito said, head tilting. Erica and he looked at each other, then back at the company.

Suddenly, Jennie and the hacker-boy broke out laughing again and not even Erica's threats could make them talk. Li, Sakura, and Tomoyo, along with Yukito, remained clueless. Toya just shook his head and hoped for the best.

* * *

School eventually ended for the day and after the CCS cast said happy birthday and goodbye to the Erica and the other two, the two different groups split at opposite directions. However, before either of them was a block away, Jennie told Erica and Jackie to stop. Then she ran toward the Card Captor Sakura cast, meaning to ask them something. 

"Hey, Sakura, did you tell Yue to keep a 'close eye' on Erica earlier today?" the braided-hair girl whispered.

Sakura nodded. "But why do you need Yue? Do you really think he likes her?"

Scratching her head, Jennie shrugged. "Don't know, but lately I've been sensing some strong emotions around the roof of the house. I suspect that's where Yue is. As for the emotions…well, they're awfully similar to the ones that Toya gives off when he sees me."

Toya blushed and covered the girl's mouth. The teen just shook silently with laughter as Sakura stared.

"I just hope you're not going to do anything bad," Li muttered, having suspicion in his eyes.

Jennie pulled off Toya's hand from her lips and raised an eyebrow. "Feeling defensive for Erica, eh? Maybe your floaty feelings are something deeper than that."

"That's not what I meant!" Syaoran bellowed, face reddening.

"Floaty, floaty, floaty!" the teen female laughed as she skipped away.

As the four watched the girl frolic to her siblings, Tomoyo wondered out loud, "I wonder if this has anything to do with the accident from some weeks ago."

Toya winced and quickly pushed the kids. "I'll just tell you one thing: you _really_ don't want to know."

* * *

"Hey, guys, look at this!" Jackie called as he stood in front of the T.V. set. 

Erica came over from the kitchen and Jennie walked away from the clock that she was watching. As the trio watched the news, the weather man pointed at Tomoeda, stating that local thunderstorms were accumulating. Then the view changed to the news casters.

"It's really startling to know that ten, _ten_ people went missing just these past two weeks," one of the news people said with a tone of worry.

Another responded, "And that counts the police officers who went to search for those missing persons."

"Yes, and they all vanished at the central park around five P.M. to twelve A.M. To those who are watching, please be cautious and do not approach his area until further notice…."

Jennie frowned. "What're the chances that people are starting to go missing when we know that the Time Web enjoys to suck things up?"

The amber-eyed female closed her eyes. The old Dark user that she had met after the battle with the Master of Ice said that he sucked in as much life energy there was, gradually getting it out of people, too, if they were close enough.

'There's no doubt about it.' they all thought. 'This is the Time Web and it's getting stronger.'

Then Jennie felt something invisible pressing down on her. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was exactly six o'clock. Coughing, Jennie muttered something about going to the bathroom, leaving Erica and Jackie to talk with each other.

Quickly, the girl went to the window ledge in the hallway upstairs, opened the window, and looked up at the roof. Smirking, her assumption on the pressure that was on the house was right; Yue was right on time, early as she had requested.

Though he didn't show it, the moon guardian was surprised that someone had already noticed him. Narrowing his eyes, the man flew down and crossed his arms.

"Sakura told me to come earlier to your house. However, I sense something sinister about this. What do you want?" the angel accused.

Jennie walked away from the window innocently. "Well, you know. It's Erica's birthday and all and I thought it wasn't enough to just give her books for a present."

Yue frowned. What did he have anything to do with a birthday gift?

"So…that's why…" the braided-hair girl whirled around with a maniacal glint in her eyes, "that's why I'm capturing you!"

Abruptly, the trees and plants shot out leaves and vines that wrapped around the angel. They held him tightly and kept him down, but the man sent out a blast of air, cutting off the vines. Flying up ungracefully, more plants lunged out at him. Before Yue could send out his attack again, Jennie jumped out the window and grabbed onto his wings. Flapping around like a demented bird, the moon guardian fell to the ground with the braided-hair girl.

Meanwhile, as Jackie and Erica were talking about the news, something crashed outside of the window, sending raccoons and night birds rushing out of the greenery. The two looked at each other.

"Jennie, I hope you didn't fall out of the window again!" the amber-eyed woman called, going outside to see what was wrong.

However, Jackie ran to the window and opened it. He saw Jennie wrestling with the moon guardian with vines that was wrapped around Yue and his wings.

The teen girl tightened the bonds and snapped, "If you keep moving, I'll introduce you to Mr. Foot very soon!"

"What are you _doing_?" Jackie hissed, eyes looking around for Erica. If she saw this then who knew what would happen….

"Wash ish the meanish of shish!" the man said in a muffled tone since the plants covered his mouth, too.

Ignoring him, Jennie said cheerfully, "Oh, you mean him? He's Erica's birthday present!"

"We already gave her a birthday present!" the hacker-boy whispered furiously.

"Yeah, but that's not enough! Besides, this angel likes—alright, that's IT! Say hello to Mr. Foot!"

Jackie heard Erica coming toward them as Jennie kicked Yue in the back. Hopping up and down, the hacker-boy finally gave in. "Get in! If Erica asks, say that I never helped you!"

The braided-hair girl dragged in the man as Jackie helped with his wind powers. Before the amber-eyed female could come out, Jennie had successfully shoved the moon guardian into a small closet and closed the door. Then Erica came out seeing Jennie innocently waving inside the house with leaves and dirt all over her while Jackie was sitting on the sofa, casually flipping through the channels on the television. Raising an eyebrow, Erica jumped through the window and closed it.

"Okay, what's going on?" the female inquired, crossing her arms.

Jackie shrugged absent-mindedly. Jennie, though, waved for Erica to come next to her. Warily, the woman did, taking off her shoes and dumping them in front of the front door.

"Remember the birthday present I said I would give you later on?" the braided-hair lass asked. Erica nodded. "Well, it's behind that door and I want you to see it first hand."

Erica looked at Jennie. She had leaves and twigs in her hair and soil and mud was crusted across her clothes. Also, if she didn't know any better, was that a white feather sticking out of her shirt? Then something crashed inside the closet, making everyone jump.

"What was that?" Amber Eyes said, backing away from the door. She noticed that Jackie was watching them from the corner of his eyes.

Jennie smiled. "Oh, you know. Things always fall down in closets. If you don't open it, your present might break."

Erica blinked and glanced at the door knob. Slowly, she turned it and opened the door, looking in.

"What! Yue, what're you-AHH!" the girl screamed as Jennie pushed her into the tied up male. With that, the door slammed closed and the two were surrounded in darkness.

Jennie, outside the door, cackled like a witch. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERICA DEAR!"

Erica scrambled up and attempted to open the door. It was locked. "JACKIE, HELP! JENNIE'S GONE INSANE AGAIN!"

As the amber-eyed female screamed, Jackie covered his ears as he watched bugs fight over a piece of meat on T.V. Jennie plopped down next to the boy and hummed a little tune. With a flick of a hand from Jennie, the plants nearby created a barrier around the whole door. The girl's cries were soon drowned out.

"You ate chocolate again, didn't you?" Jackie questioned, glaring at the humming female.

As if in answer, she took out a huge bar of Hershey's and chewed on it happily. Jackie rolled his eyes and looked back at the T.V. He got a feeling that the night would not end well.

* * *

Erica hit the door one last time and leaned back. Her friends were dead. They would not live to see the next morning. Eyes getting accustomed to the dark, she saw Yue still tied up in vines, but seemed to be sleeping. Looking around for a flashlight and a pocket knife, the woman eventually found them and set to work on cutting the green ropes. 

After she had cut the plants from Yue's mouth, he opened his eyes and watched the woman working intently to cut off his ropes. She looked up at him and smiled.

"It would help a lot is you took away your wings," she stated, tossing the knife to the side.

Yue's wings vanished instantly and the vines became loose. He carefully removed them and sat up, stretching.

"Do they usually do this?" the guardian said, watching Erica stand up and shove the coats to sides.

The woman rolled her eyes. "If you mean my dear, _dear_ siblings, then yes, they enjoy making people suffer for their own enjoyment."

"And what do they mean by me being a birthday present?"

Erica blushed as she savagely kicked away some boxes. "Don't pay any attention to that crap. They're just trying to make us like…nevermind."

The angel watched the woman turn a darker red as he continued to gaze at her. Then realization hit him as he caught on to what the girl was saying. Turning red himself, he stood up to knock the door down with his own foot. Unfortunately, he bumped his head against the shelf above him and with stars going around his eyes, he tripped over a box and collided into Erica. They fell first into the wall and slid down to the floor.

"Ow…ow…that hurt…a lot," she muttered, clutching her head.

Yue shook his head and as he set himself up with his arms, he looked up and came face to face with the amber-eyed girl, noses barely touching. They stared at each other like that for a few seconds. Standing back up, the angel glared at the wooden door. He would not tolerate being humiliated and stuck with the woman that he felt least secure from. Summoning his powers, air swirled around the closet. Yue was prepared to knock the door down, no matter what.

Erica's eyes widened and before she could stop the man, the angel punched the wood. The door splintered and broke, but as the planks fell down, a cover of plants appeared. Punching again at the greens, the web of vines bent and bounced back the wind attack that the moon guardian had used. Air swerved around the closet, knocking down various objects and throwing the broken wood around. Soon, the wind drifted away and Yue was back on the floor, covered with coats, boxes, and dust. Erica was flat against the wall, having avoided most of the damage.

"I knew it!" she murmured angrily, digging the man out the mountain of junk. "I knew Jennie would use her plants and…UGH! I'M GONNA KILL HER!"

Erica dragged Yue out of the debris and panted heavily. The man was still conscious, but was staring at nothing. The amber-eyes girl poked the male on the forehead. He looked at her with his silver-blue eyes.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned.

Yue sat back up and leaned against the wall. Erica sat next to him, head perched on her knees.

"You are not hurt, are you?" the angel said, glancing toward the female.

Erica shook her head. "No, I'm fine. That was awfully stupid, though. You usually don't make rash decisions like that, Yue. Anything wrong?"

The man looked at the woman again and saw the light from the flashlight reflect off her eyes, making them glow. Yue flushed while thinking, 'You are the problem! You make me feel strange and I don't know what to expect from you!'

Nevertheless, Yue replied, "No, nothing is wrong. However…you seem troubled. Is something bothering you?"

Erica blinked and laughed. "What makes you think I have a problem? I'm fine. Really."

Yue watched Erica stare at the plant wall. She seemed to be thinking of something and as she jumped at a flicker of a shadow at one point, it was clear that something troubling was on her mind.

Feeling that it was his job to distract her from such thoughts, the moon guardian coughed and said quietly, "You make me feel…floaty."

"HUH?" the girl exclaimed, lifting her head.

"You make me feel things that I have never felt before."

Erica stood up, edging away from the angel. "Okaaaaaaaay…I'll be going to the corner now…."

Then something tugged at her shirt and pulled her back. Looking down, the amber-eyed female saw Yue with a pink face and staring intently at the wall next to him. His hand was grabbing her sleeve. Taking a deep breath, Erica sat back down next to him, silence stretching longer and longer between them.

"Um, Yue?" Erica started. Yue closed his eyes, but the girl knew he was listening. "Remember the day I fell on you?"

The man grimaced visibly.

"Eh heh…sorry. Anyway, on that day…you said…something…um…you said you…loved…me. Er…is this true?"

"Is that the problem?" he inquired. He still had his eyes closed, but seemed to be tense.

"No, just one of the problems. It would be nice if you answered it."

"Would you be angry if I said no?"

"What? Of course not! So then…that means you don't like me?"

Yue eyes snapped open and he stuttered, "No! Yes! Wait, what I meant was…I mean…no…yes…?"

Then Erica started to laugh silently while covering her mouth and her shoulders shaking.

Taking a deep breath, Yue started over and continued in a more controlled voice, "I am not sure if I have such feelings since I have never really experienced them nor did I have the opportunity. But…I do enjoy your company very much. That is all."

Erica thought about this while the bird man next to her closed his eyes again. Yue wasn't lying when he said that he floaty next to the amber-eyed girl. If he didn't concentrate on his surroundings, Yue was afraid that he might do something that he didn't like very much.

All of a sudden, Erica yelled out, "I FEEL SO LOVED!"

Scared out of his mind, the angel stood up, bashed his head against the same shelf again, and fell back down to his knees, clutching his head in pain.

"Holy Jeebes," the woman laughed, crawling over to Yue, "are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, although I'm starting to despise these closed spaces now," he responded, glaring viciously up at the shelf. The amber-eyed girl simply laughed harder.

In the midst of all this merriment, a voice coughed, bringing attention to both Erica and Yue. A small hole appeared on the plant wall and Jennie waved at them outside.

"I have a feeling that nothing's really happening here and it's getting a bit late." the braided-hair girl smiled. "So, to speed up the process, in order to get out of that closet, you two have to do some 'head-on collisions,' if you know what I mean."

Erica bristled and shoved her hand through the hole, grabbing Jennie's braid.

"You want a head-on collision, I'll give you one!" the teen screamed. Then she pulled the braid making Jennie hit the plant wall. She did this over and over again.

"Ow!" Jennie squeaked. "What did I-OW!-ever do to-OW!-deserve this-OW! OW! OW!-punishment?"

"Hmm, I don't know…LIKE TRAP ME INSIDE A CLOSET WITH A MOON GUARDIAN THAT YOU HAD MUGGED!"

"It wasn't-OW!-only-OW!-me! Jackie helped me-OW!-too!"

The boy's voice cut in, "Don't you dare include me in your evil plots!"

"Shut up, Jackie!" Erica yelled. "You're gonna die, too, after I get out of here!"

The hacker-boy cursed and ran upstairs. Yue just watched the two girls fight with a calm expression. He learned that whenever Erica was in her maniac mode, it was better off to leave her alone. Besides, he enjoyed seeing the braided-hair one suffer.

"DAMMIT," Jennie shouted, pulling her abused braid away, "if you don't listen to what I say, I am never letting you out of there!"

"You are _so_ dead after this!" the amber-eyed female hissed. Falling back against the wall, she glared at her wincing best friend through the hole.

Yue asked quietly, "What does she mean by a 'head-on collision?'"

Erica messed up her hair in frustration. "She wants us to…to…you know…."

The female clapped her hands, stopping for a moment when they closed. Yue caught on and clawed at the other woman through the small hole.

"You conniving, evil, horrible…" the moon guardian muttered, trying to grab the braided-hair girl. Unfortunately, she learned that being to close to the two was dangerous at the moment.

Erica covered her eyes, hearing Yue's useless threats. Finally coming to a conclusion to her thinking, she grabbed the angel back and held him tightly so he wouldn't jump at Jennie again.

"You promise to open the door-plant-thing if we kiss, right?" the amber-eyed girl said tiredly.

The man stared at Erica with total shock. Jennie tilted her head to the side. "I did say that."

The girl inside the closet apologized, "Yue, I know this goes against your dignity, but…sorry."

Quickly, the woman leaned forward and kissed the angel on the cheek, released him, and faced Jennie, crossing her arms.

"Now, the door please?" Erica asked.

Jennie snickered. "You should look at your Prince Charming first."

Confused, the amber-eyed girl looked at the man and saw him swaying around as if he was drunk. He had an extremely red face and eyes were screwed shut. When Erica reached over to shake him, Yue fell backwards and stayed on the floor.

The braided-hair female laughed out loud and rolled on the floor at the same time the plants receded from the doorway. Erica got out, stretched, and walked over Jennie. The girl still continued to giggle incessantly. Gradually, Erica reached Jennie's room, went in, and came out, holding a bag that as the size of her whole upper-body. Jackie came out of his room and watched Erica hold the plastic bag over her shoulder.

"Hi, Jackie," the female smiled pleasantly.

The hacker-boy lifted an eyebrow. Why was Erica so happy looking and not murderous? "Hi…uh…I'll be going now."

Scrambling over the railing, the little lad jumped over it and landed safely on his feet with the help of the wind. Jackie watched the amber-eyed girl go into her room with the same smile on. Something was wrong. Turning around, the hacker-boy walked over to Jennie and waited until the crazy lady could stop laughing.

"Um…Jen?" Jackie started.

The woman panted, "Yeah, what?"

"Erica just went into your room and came out with a large bag."

Jennie blinked. Suddenly she stood up and slid over to the stairs, swearing curses like a madman. Jennie ran into her room and came back out again a few seconds later.

"Holy shit! She took my stash of candy!" she screamed. "I'LL SAVE YOU CANDY!"

Jennie sprinted to Erica's room. Jackie shook his head and thanked himself that he made a back up disk of all his files from his precious computer. That way, when Erica decided to sabotage his machine, he could always download his files back. That was the reason why he ran upstairs earlier. Jackie looked into the closet and saw Yue laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

"You look like you're about to kill yourself," the hacker-boy said bluntly. He jumped when Jennie's voice could be heard screaming.

"I have been kissed by a woman that I may have feelings for," Yue replied, still gazing at the ceiling.

Chuckling, Jackie said, "Yeah, that can really suck."

"This would never have happened if Jennie and you did not push me into this closet."

"Uh…."

"I should kill you right now."

"You see, I can explain—"

All of a sudden, Jennie came running out of Erica's room, yelling bloody murder. Shortly, the amber-eyed girl came after her, swinging around a broom.

"What the hell are you talking about!" Erica yelled, swinging the sweeper, "What the hell do you mean I have no right to throw your candy out the window! You freakin' trapped me into the closet for almost two hours! Come back here, you witch!"

The two girls ran out of the front door and started to sprint around the house. Jackie stared at Yue and Yue looked back at him.

"So…you two really kissed?"

"DIE!"

And so, the day ended with Yue chasing Jackie inside of the house and the two girls running down the street. And so ended Erica's birthday, the day where emotion ran high between two people and when love really was best left alone.

* * *

…And so it begins, the beginning of the end….

* * *

A/N 2: Well, seems like this chapter is done! Finally, in the next one, the plot picks up again! No more fillers! Mwaha! 

Anyway, seems like I didn't get that much reviews for the previous chapter (only one…) …hrm…I suppose that's what I get for not updating for a long time and then finally showing up with a flimsy chapter…. Ah…sorry 'bout that. I also forgot to mention thanks to the reviewers who reviewed months ago. Thanks so much for your support! I just hope that you review to this one….

So, till next time, ciao! (PLEASE REVIEW!)


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